AN airline passenger has spoken of her anger at having to spend more than five hours on a plane diverted to a North-East airport because of snow.

Grandmother Carol Stones said the treatment of the passengers on the Thomson flight from Alicante, Spain, had been “disgraceful”.

Ms Stones, from Norton, near Stockton, was on the flight with her four-year-old grandson, Bradley.

The flight was scheduled to land at Leeds Bradford Airport on Tuesday afternoon.

However, heavy snow in West Yorkshire meant it was diverted to Newcastle.

More snow on Tyneside meant the plane was then diverted from Newcastle to Durham Tees Valley Airport (DTVA).

Police were called after passengers became angry when they were prevented from leaving the aircraft at DTVA.

A 39-year-old man from Hartlepool was arrested on suspicion of using threatening behaviour on an aircraft.

Ms Stones said the man became angry after aircrew refused to let his wife get off the plane with their sick child.

He was later released after being cautioned.

Ms Stones said: “It’s bad enough being on an aeroplane with a four-year-old for two hours, let alone nearly six.

“We seemed to be circling Newcastle for 40 to 50 minutes before we went to Teesside.

“We landed at Teesside and everyone applauded because the conditions were awful, but our treatment was then disgraceful.

“We sat on the plane for about two hours in freezing conditions with not even a hot drink.”

Ms Stones said the atmosphere became heated when passengers were told the plane would take off again and try to land at Newcastle.

She said: “Everybody was shouting that they didn’t want to take off ‘You’re not endangering lives’, people said.

“These big security men in suits came on.

“Bradley and lots of children were very upset.”

Thomson said the airline intended to fly customers back to Newcastle airport, once it had reopened, where buses were waiting to collect them and take them to Leeds Bradford.

However, the pilot decided to disembark customers at DTVA in the interests of safety after passengers became disruptive.

Thomson said in a statement: “The airline would also like to reassure customers that their safety and well being is its number one priority at all times.”