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A plane destined for Birmingham Airport was forced to U-turn after a passenger “set fire to his own hands".

The Monarch flight was forced to return to Tenerife after the mid-flight drama.

It was today reported that the man allegedly tried to burn the face of a member of cabin crew with a lighter before the pilot ordered the U-turn.

Travellers faced lengthy delays after the plane was grounded while police arrived to arrest the suspect.

The flight had been bound for Birmingham Airport after leaving the Canary Islands on Thursday.

A spokeswoman for Monarch confirmed the flight was diverted because of “disruptive behaviour”.

One passenger onboard said the man started setting fire to his hands with lighter fuel soon after the plane took off. A flight attendant reportedly asked him to hand over the lighter, when he turned the violence on her.

The witness told the Daily Star: “He refused and attempted to light the lighter in her face. This information was forwarded to the pilot who decided to ​d​ivert back to Tenerife South airport where the man was arrested.​‘”

Another passenger, Hannah Batteson, took to social media to vent her frustration over the delay and wrote: “It’s all fun and games when we was flying for an hour and had to turn back to Tenerife because somebody had a lighter in a stewardess.”

Another witness said frustrated passengers had been forced to stay in their seats until the Civil Guard arrived.

A spokeswoman for the airline said: “Monarch can confirm that two passengers were offloaded on board Monarch flight ZB933 from Tenerife to Birmingham on October 27 due to disruptive behaviour.

“The flight had departed for Birmingham but diverted back to Tenerife airport where a passenger was subsequently arrested upon arrival.

“Monarch takes a zero tolerance approach to disruptive behaviour on board all of our flights. The safety and security of our passengers, crew and aircraft is our absolute priority.”

Watch: Plane makes emergency landing at Birmingham Airport after passengers alert crew to burst tyre