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Several flights have been diverted to Stansted Airport after a drone was reportedly spotted over Gatwick Airport.

Passenger journeys from Barcelona, Amsterdam into London have been affected, according to reports.

One flight from Heraklion in Greece - which was due to land at 4.23pm - was also forced to divert to Stansted.

A captain on board an easyJet flight from Schipol in Amsterdam reportedly told passengers that had been delayed as a drone was in "close proximity" to the aircraft.

One person said the pilot was forced to take 'evasive action' to avoid collision with the reported drone.

The passenger, who wishes to remain nameless, told Mirror Online: "There was a plane ahead of us coming into land at Gatwick and a drone came in close proximity to the aircraft and it had to take evasive action to avoid it.

"We therefore were diverted to Stansted where we were not allowed to exit the aircraft and were held on the tarmac for over an hour.

"The captain did her best to keep us up to date with what was happening."

Another passenger complained that their flight was delayed for up to twenty minutes as their plane attempted to land.

(Image: Getty Images)

David Holden said on Twitter: "Just love travelling. Our easyJet flight to Gatwick has just been redirected to Stansted due to a drone sighting as we came into land.

" I love drones! Now refuelling & heading back to Gatwick. Going to be a long day."

Another Twitter user said her son had been forced to land in Stansted due to a drone sighting and was not immediately allowed to leave the aircraft.

Gatwick Airport said there were sightings of then object but said its radar did not pick it up.

A Gatwick spokesperson said: “Gatwick investigated a report of an unconfirmed sighting of an object outside the airport’s 5KM exclusion zone today but - following a full assessment - the airport has remained fully operational throughout.”

In December, more than 600 flights were cancelled disrupting the travel plans of more than 110,000 people due to repeated drone sightings at Gatwick.