Passengers on board a Ryanair have claimed that they were forced to call the police after being left stranded on a plane for hours with no food or water and with children on board, according to reports.

The delayed flight from Stansted to Portugal, was held for an initial three hours at Stansted Airport, during which time the passengers reported they were not allowed to leave the plane because the building to the terminal was closed.

Police arrived at 3.45am and allowed the passengers off the plane. However passengers were then kept waiting on the plane for a further two hours after re-boarding at 6am.

The flight to Porto was delayed for a total of 11 hours from its initial scheduled departure time of 8.30pm on Friday February 14.

Ryanair, which has recently been on a customer-centred drive to enhance services for passengers, has apologised to those on board the Valentines Day flight, citing the problems to be due to the operators of the terminal.

The carrier denies reports that passengers called the police, stating it was the captain who contacted the authorities.

A statement released by the low cost carrier said: “Due to strong winds across the South of England (14 Feb) over 20 airlines were forced to divert into Stansted from Heathrow and Gatwick airports which significantly disrupted handling and fuelling operations at Stansted.

“This Ryanair flight from London Stansted to Porto was delayed by the weather disruption and a subsequent fuelling delay at the airport.

“After approximately two hours waiting for fuellers, the Captain requested the handling company (Swissport) to allow the passengers into the terminal which was locked.

“ The Captain switched on the aircraft’s air conditioning while waiting for Swissport staff to arrive and the cabin crew provided water to passengers.

“When Swissport failed to arrive the Captain requested the police to let the passengers into the locked terminal. 

“The police subsequently arrived and allowed the passengers into the terminal. Passengers were then provided with refreshment vouchers on Ryanair’s instructions.

“The aircraft departed the following morning at 7.50am. Ryanair sincerely apologises to all passengers on this flight who were affected by this delay.”