Two men caused a scare on a jet about to leave Gatwick when they pinned on badges which appeared to show Osama bin Laden.

The two men, in their 30s, boarded the JMC flight to Malaga wearing Haile Selassie of Ethiopia T-shirts.

In their seats, they got the badges out of their pockets and pinned them on their T-shirts.

Alarmed cabin crew asked for information about the badges but the two men refused to talk to them. The captain then called in the police.

Gatwick police spokesman PC Kevin Clark said: "The two men were unco-operative about everything and refused to explain why they had put the badges on."

They eventually told police the badges were of Ethiopian runner Haile Gebrselassie.

The captain refused to fly the men and they were escorted off the aircraft.

PC Clark said the men, from London, had not committed any offence and no further action was taken.

A JMC spokesman said: "In the present climate of security measures and high tension we cannot take risks if anyone refuses to answer questions related to security."

Meanwhile, Gatwick security staff have faced more hoax bomb threats in the wake of the terror attacks on the United States.

In the most recent scare, two men were thrown off a holiday flight at Gatwick after one of them claimed to have a machete and bomb in his luggage.

The comments were made as the men checked in for an Airtours flight in the South Terminal.

In a separate incident, an 18-year-old woman caused alarm on an aircraft when she set fire to paper in the toilet.