A number of passengers on board a Ryanair flight to Luton spent the night in Malta after the aircraft aborted take-off due to a technical fault on Tuesday evening.

An airline spokesman said all passengers aboard flight FR 3883 were given the choice of a full refund or transfer to alternative Ryanair flights.

They were also provided with EU261 notices, explaining their rights and inviting passengers to send "reasonable receipted expenses to Ryanair for review".

The spokesman apologised to passengers for the inconvenience caused but insisted that the flight was cancelled due to safety considerations.

It could not be ascertained yesterday what the passengers opted to do but civil aviation industry sources reported that a few remained at the airport and a few others purchased tickets on other airlines to fly to London.

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