A plane was forced to make an emergency landing yesterday.

The pilot of the Ryanair flight which was heading to Agadir in Morocco from Liverpool's John Lennon Airport made the U-turn after a fire indicator light was activated in the cockpit, an airport spokesman confirmed.

"The plane departed at 3.37 p.m. from Liverpool and returned at 4.03 p.m., when we closed the airport.

"An emergency was declared after a report of a fire on board the plane.

"The emergency landing was performed safely, everyone was evacuated and we got passengers away from the aircraft as quickly as possible as a precaution.

"The plane will now be towed away and we will soon look to get the airport operational," airport spokesman Robin Tudor said.

Police, fire crews and ambulances arrived at a pre-arranged assembly point near the airport in Speke.

The 116 passengers and six crew used emergency inflatable chutes to leave the aircraft.

The airport remained closed for approximately one hour, and re-opened shortly after 5 pm.

Mr Tudor said the passengers were in an airport lounge waiting for another flight to their destination, which is scheduled to leave at 6.30 pm.

A spokesman for Merseyside Police said fire crews were searching the plane for signs of a fire with thermal imaging equipment.

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