Passengers staged a ‘sit-in’ on a Viking Hellas aircraft at Birmingham Airport after a ‘civil dispute’ broke out onboard the charter plane.

Some 100 passengers refused to get off the plane for several hours after being told to get off, according to reports.

The Viking Hellas flight had been scheduled to depart from Manchester to Athens at 13:00, but passengers were instead taken by bus to Birmingham.

They were asked to board a plane at Manchester which had been due to leave at 17:00, but were then told to get off – according to reports.

West Midlands Police boarded the plane during the dispute, which ultimately resolved itself after eight hours - at 1:30am, when the passengers disembarked from the plane.

A bus then took the passengers back to Manchester.

All affected passengers were offered a refund by Viking Hellas.