Passengers were evacuated from a Dutch airport terminal when a British man was arrested after reportedly shouting bomb threats at a check-in queue.

The line of people at Terminal 3 of Amsterdam's Schiphol airport was evacuated for around 30 minutes as the 29-year-old man was detained by police.

Reports say that the man shouted out that he was carrying a bomb, and pictures on social media show a man lying on the floor as officers point rifles at him.

Muhammad Syafiee (@OperationSyaf) tweeted shortly after the incident at 8am on Friday: "Schiphol Airport on lockdown after some scare or alleged gunshots were heard. We actually ran for our lives."

A spokeswoman at the airport said: "The 29-year-old British man was arrested at around 8am.

"It was only the one check-in line that had to be evacuated for maximum half an hour - if that. Security control remained open as it is located further away.

"He was taken away by the police."

Dutch Military Police spokesman Eric Vermeulen told the Guardian: "The man was walking through Departure Hall 3 when passengers heard him shout out several times that he had a bomb. They were concerned enough to inform the police, who subdued him and searched him with explosives search dogs.

"We have established that this was a false alarm and the man is the only suspect. We now want to find out why he decided to cause a false alarm."

The spokesman said the incident lasted around 20 to 30 minutes and confirmed the arrested man was travelling on a British passport.