A plane had to be grounded after a rat was spotted running wild in the cockpit.

The rodent had stowed away aboard the Thomas Cook flight to Cyprus from Gatwick.

Halfway through the journey from Sussex the pilot spotted the creature scuttling around under his feet raising fears it would chew through crucial wires.

The flight crew landed the plane safely but it then had to be grounded at Paphos airport for 24 hours while passengers were removed and engineers searched high and low for the offender.

The rat was never found.

A spokeswoman for Gatwick said the airport would look into its vermin control policy.