An Afghan asylum seeker's deportation was prevented on Tuesday after the pilot of the plane on which he was supposed to be removed reportedly refused to take off.

Samim Bigzad, 22, had been booked on a Turkish Airlines flight after his application for asylum failed. A petition to delay his deportation had attracted 3,000 signatures.

Campaigners went to Heathrow Airport to tell passengers about Mr Bigzad's situation, asking them to raise it with airline staff if they felt comfortable doing so.

Mr Bigzad was reportedly hysterical as he was escorted on to the flight, claiming he could be beheaded by the Taliban.

Kavel Rafeferty, a British woman who had been hosting Mr Bigzad in Kent, later received a message from him saying he had returned to a detention centre in the UK after "the pilot said no", the Independent reported.

“The last message I’d had from him was so sad – it just said ‘they’ve come to take me’ and then the phone was switched off,” said Ms Rafferty.

“But then he rang that night and told me ‘the pilot said no’. He was happy and relieved and shocked – it was a lot to go through in one day.