RESEARCH by the University of York has found that Mission: Impossible-style face masks could fool police and airport security.

The silicone masks were initially developed for use in Hollywood films to avoid hours of make-up for stars. They now cost as little as £500, but are convincing enough to pass as real faces, and would allow criminals to operate with little fear of identification.

York Press: Tall order: Tom Cruise on the run in Mission: Impossible III

Tom Cruise famously altered his appearance with masks in the Mission: Impossible franchise.

Doctor Rob Jenkins from the University of York's Department of Psychology, said people were very bad at spotting people wearing one of the "hyper-realistic" masks both in photographs and in real life.

Dr Jenkins said: "We wanted to see if people would distinguish these masks from real faces, so we asked people to describe the faces they saw in photographs or in live viewing. Only one in 100 viewers mentioned a mask.

"When we asked if there was anything unusual about the faces, that number rose to one in 50. Even when we told them it could be a mask, most people still thought it was a real face."

Dr Jenkins said the masks - which cover the head, neck and upper chest - could trick law enforcement agencies into looking for entirely the wrong person, and said there had been an instance of someone in a mask boarding a flight, who was only detected when they came back to their seat looking like a different person after taking it off in the toilet.

York Press:

Dr Jenkins in three of the silicone masks.

The masks are cheaper and available without need for fitting, and Dr Jenkins said he had worn masks at work to gauge people's reactions.

He said: "It gives you a strange feeling of anonymity. I went into the staff room and I was expecting people to say 'Rob, what are you doing? Take the mask off'. But no-one had that reaction at all, people were a bit confused as to why this old man was in the staff room."

Dr Jenkins said humans and technology can beat potential criminals, as thermal detectors can be used to gauge the temperature of someone's face - with flesh being different from silicone - and the masks can make it difficult to pronounce certain words.

Dr Jenkins said: "We are wondering if, strangely, it might be audio which allows us to solve this difficult visual test."

The research was published in the journal Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications.