DRUNK passengers have been stopped from boarding flights as part of a crackdown on bad behaviour.

Police, retailers, airlines and Gatwick Airport staff have seen a sharp rise in the number of incidents reported to them in the past year.

It follows the Operation Disrupt campaign which has seen daily patrols between April and August.

Some 379 incidents were reported this year, up from during the same period 173 last year.

But police say in previous years patrols were only done for four days each week, and say that overall the number of flights having to be delayed or diverted in the air has dropped.

Drunk and aggressive passengers can face a £5,000 fine and two-year prison sentence, and airlines have a right to refuse anyone they believe will be a threat to safety from boarding the aircraft.

In July The Argus reported that Uche Ezedinma had to be physically restrained on board a Virgin Atlantic flight from Gatwick to the Caribbean.

The 36-year-old from Croydon’s behaviour was so bad that the plane had to make an emergency landing in the Azores.

Portuguese authorities had let him go after just a few hours of paperwork, but Gatwick police tracked him down for a tougher sentence.

He was jailed for 14 months at Lewes Crown Court.

Police say disorderly behaviour accounts for just 0.001 per cent of passengers, but it can be very disruptive to everyone else.

So officers have been working to prevent drunk passengers and abusive passengers from boarding planes.

Of the 379 incidents recorded, 113 were for drunken behaviour, while 113 were for aggressive behaviour, while the rest included problems such as lost luggage, medical episodes, and missed flights.

Inspector Darren Taylor said: “We’re receiving more reports of incidents as they happen on the ground.

“It gives us the opportunity to deal with individuals before they board an aircraft, where they could potentially cause further disruption. In turn, this has led to a decrease in incidents occurring on-board.

“But we can’t be complacent – while the main aim of the operation is to prevent incidents from occurring in the first place, there is a small minority of people who believe it’s acceptable to abuse staff who are simply doing their job.

“It is not acceptable and it will not be tolerated.”

In Operation Disrupt there were 56 arrests, 18 were for drunk passengers. Five are wanted under police warrant, 11 received a caution, 13 got a fine, 11 appeared in court, and one was deported.