More than 400 passengers and crew suffered tense minutes when a Virgin Atlantic jet made an emergency landing at Gatwick.

The airport was put on full alert at 5.30am on Saturday after the pilot of flight VS034 from Antigua radioed the control tower to say fluid was leaking and the landing flaps were not working properly.

Fifteen ambulances, 12 fire engines and police vehicles rushed to the terminal but the pilot managed to land safely and no one was hurt.

The plane was repaired and was back in service six hours after landing at the South Terminal.

The drama came on the same weekend as an investigation was launched to find out how firearms and mock explosives were taken on board an airliner bound for Gatwick.

Training firm Global Air Training was able to take the revolvers, mock ammunition and imitation explosives on to a British Airways jet at Manchester.

The airline said the company had applied to transport the material in the proper way but there had been a breakdown in communication at the airport and it was transported through normal boarding gates without being detected.

British Airways said it had taken the incident up with the airport operators and Securicor ADI, which is responsible for screening baggage.