MELBOURNE airport in Australia was thrown into turmoil Saturday following a bizarre incident where an intruder crossed the tarmac and went for a joyride in a motorized cart stolen from a hangar.

The man was eventually grabbed after zooming around in the cart he stole from the Virgin hangar shortly after scaling the airport's security fences, the Herald Sun reported.

He was apprehended by Virgin staff, police officers and airport security.

Following the incident some flights were delayed and passengers were taken off a Tiger Airways plane nearby and rescreened in case the incident was part of a broader security breach.

The intruder, believed to be an Italian national, is understood to have attracted the attention of authorities in Sydney by acting strangely and arriving with little money.

He is understood to have flown to Melbourne in the last 24 hours but it appears he had not actually left the area around the airport.

He re-entered the airport just after 6:00am Saturday and cut himself badly on the security wire on the top of the airport's perimeter fences.

Originally published as Stolen cart taken for joyride on tarmac