An asylum-seeker who claims he was beaten unconscious by security guards won an 11th-hour reprieve from being sent back to Africa.

Mohammed Koroma was removed from an aeroplane minutes before it was due to leave a Heathrow runway bound for Sierra Leone.

The 31-year-old was taken to the airport by van from Tinsley House Immigration Removal Centre at Gatwick yesterday. He does not know why he was removed from the plane, or how long he will now remain in England.

The Argus highlighted his case after he told volunteer visitors at Tinsley House he was beaten by three security guards in the back of a van at Gatwick Airport on February 26.

He also claimed the guards racially abused him.

Though police did not find grounds for an investigation, members of the Gatwick Detainee Welfare Group raised concerns over the frequency and handling of similar complaints.

Mr Koroma has lived in Britain since 2003. He claimed asylum on the grounds that the government of Sierra Leone would kill him for past political activism if he returned to the country.

Last night he was waiting to speak to his London-based solicitors to find out why he was not removed from the country on yesterday's flight.

He told The Argus: "It is very hard not knowing what is going to happen."

*Visitors to Tinsley House were pulled over by armed police on Wednesday afternoon.

A tactical firearms unit set up a checkpoint at Perimeter Road South, Gatwick, and interviewed drivers heading towards the centre at about 4.30pm.

A Sussex Police spokesman said it was a routine operation as part of airport security.