Boris Johnson's plane forced to make emergency landing at Luton airport

A plane carrying Boris Johnson was forced to make an emergency landing at Luton Airport due to a "technical fault".

The new foreign secretary had tweeted earlier he was on his way to Brussels for a meeting this evening.

It was his first flight and foreign trip since he was appointed Foreign Secretary last week.

But he was held up after the plane was grounded - and appeared to be on fire.

One Twitter user posted this picture with the caption: "Luton airport ground to a halt, 5 fire engines on the runway with a small passenger jet..."

The Foreign Office spokesman told ITV News Mr Johnson was unharmed in the incident.

He added: "There was a technical issue on the RAF flight on Sunday afternoon carrying the foreign secretary and his officials from London to Brussels that required the aircraft to land at Luton Airport.

"The foreign secretary thanked the RAF crew for their professionalism anf was grateful to Luton Airport for the brief, unscheduled welcome.

"After a short delay, he continued on his way to Brussels by alternative means."

A spokesman for Luton Airport said: "At 17.26 an RAF aircraft landed safely at London Luton Airport after reporting a technical issue.

"Emergency procedures were put in place and all 16 passengers left the aircraft safely.

"Several scheduled flights were disrupted whilst the runway was cleared. The runway reopened at 17.59."