British police investigating the alleged airliner bomb plot have found a suitcase containing components needed to make an explosive device.
The discovery is thought to have been made in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, where officers are searching King's Wood for traces of explosives or evidence of explosive tests.
The BBCreported a police source as saying the suitcase contained "everything you would need to make an improvised device".
Scotland Yard has refused to comment on the reports.
Earlier, intelligence officials in Pakistan claimed Rashid Rauf - a key suspect in the alleged plot - had links with an outlawed Pakistani militant group and met al-Qaeda figures inside Pakistan in the lead-up to his arrest.
Mr Rauf, a British national and the brother of one of those detained in Britain, was held in Pakistan last week and is widely believed to have triggered the police operation to foil the alleged plot.
Officials claimed he had been in contact - through intermediaries - with a high ranking al-Qaeda leader at large in neighbouring Afghanistan, and that he had met al-Qaeda figures inside Pakistan.
It was also alleged that he has links to the militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed and was related by marriage to its leader.
The alleged bomb plot involved plans to blow up US-bound transatlantic passenger jets in mid flight using liquid-based explosive devices hidden in hand luggage.
It has led to tough new security measures at airports.