A PLANE at the centre of a 27-hour delay which involved police being called as tempers flared has finally taken off.

Police boarded the plane at Gatwick as frustration grew on board.

The Havana-bound flight, carrying 352 passengers, had been due to leave at 9.30am on Thursday.

But a series of delays caused by technical hitches and claims of poor customer service led to rising tensions on board.

It took off at around 12.45pm yesterday, a Virgin Atlantic spokeswoman said.

Passengers claimed that the series of delays that led to them being kept on board for seven hours without adequate food or water unfolded like a "catalogue of errors".

Philip Robinson, 53, from Maidenhead, Berkshire, said: "Because of security, we couldn't take drinks on board and were only given two glasses of water.

"No one even had any food."

The problems reportedly began ten minutes after boarding.

Passengers were told a faulty light in the cockpit needed to be fixed.

This was followed by an announcement 20 minutes later that a valve in the plane's engine needed fixing.

An hour later passengers were told the captain was waiting for paperwork before the plane could take off.

Nearly four hours later, the crew announced that in-flight meals would have to be thrown away as they had been open too long and passengers would have to wait for replacements.

Then a row between two women passengers led to the captain warning that the police would be called.

Forty-five minutes later, take-off was abandoned after a faulty tyre was discovered.

At 4pm, after seven hours aboard the grounded plane, passengers were told cabin crews' shifts had ended and the flight had been cancelled.

Passengers were allowed to disembark but had to hand in their duty-free goods.

Teacher John Lineham, 60, of Highgate, north London, said: "It was a catalogue of error after error.

"The captain didn't make decisions early enough.

"The management of the whole situation was terrible.

"More than 300 people got two glasses of water in seven hours - time in which I would expect to have had three meals."

Passengers received one bread roll, he said.

His claim was backed by actress Anna Macer, also from London, who said: "This has got to be Virgin's worst hour.

"It felt as if we were marooned in a Third World state, not leafy Sussex."

Sussex Police confirmed officers had boarded the plane but said no arrests were made.

Mr Robinson claimed security had been breached when he received a boarding ticket with the wrong name on it.

He said: "They allowed our bags on board under someone else's name.

"It was a serious breach."

A Virgin Atlantic spokeswoman said: "What happened was a series of technical faults which were deemed to be able to be fixed with passengers on board.

"The crew went beyond their operating hours.

"Unfortunately we got the technical problems sorted and the crew weren't able to operate the flight."

She said it was not possible to arrange another crew immediately.

Passengers were put up in a hotel close to the airport on Thursday night and received free meals and telephone calls, she said.

Passengers who did not wish to take the delayed flight yesterday received a full refund.

Those who did take the flight have been offered a free return flight.