Flights at East Midlands Airport were delayed on Monday afternoon after a passenger on a Jet2 departure claimed he had a bomb.

Police boarded the Boeing 737 and arrested a man, but no explosive device was found.

The flight, which was due to depart for Antalya in Turkey at 4.45pm was delayed more than three hours.

The incident also had a knock-on effect on a number of other flights from East Midlands Airport, which were delayed by one to two hours until Monday evening.

A spokesperson for Leicestershire Police said a passenger was arrested on suspicion of possession of an explosive substance.

He remains in police custody and inquiries remain ongoing, the force told the BBC.

A spokesperson said: “At 5.16pm today (Monday), police were informed of a report of a male aboard an aircraft at East Midlands Airport who stated he was in possession of an explosive device.

“The aircraft was on the ground at the time of the incident.

“Officers worked with airport staff and with the aircraft crew to provide an immediate response to the report. In the interests of public and officer safety, armed officers were also deployed to the area of the aircraft.

“Following instruction, the man safely left the aircraft where he was arrested.

“The aircraft has been fully searched. No explosive device has been found onboard and there is no suggestion that the threat made is viable.

“Following initial assessment, it was not deemed that evacuation of the aircraft was required.”

A Jet2 spokesperson said: “We can confirm that flight LS653 from East Midlands to Antalya returned to stand yesterday evening so that police could offload a disruptive passenger.

“The flight departed after the passenger was offloaded.

“We would like to apologise to everyone onboard for any inconvenience or upset caused by this unforeseen incident.”