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Heathrow Airport was thrown into chaos as reports of a drone sighting grounded flights for about an hour.

Frustrated passengers at Britain's busiest air hub took to social media complaining of being stuck on the runway following the mayhem just weeks after similar scenes at Gatwick.

The military said they were preparing to deploy equipment they used then quickly should it prove necessary.

The Metropolitan Police also confirmed "police officers were among those who saw the drone".

Some 1,000 flights were disrupted by drone sightings near Gatwick causing three days of chaos just before Christmas.

Some flights have since resumed but many are still stuck on runways at the airport which serves around 200,000 passengers daily.

Police were using a helicopter to search for the drone after the drone was spotted shortly after 5pm.

Has your flight been affected? Email webnews@mirror.co.uk

(Image: REUTERS) (Image: @BondySi/Twitter)

The drone was spotted near the northern runway close to Bath Road.

An updated statement from Heathrow Airport said: " We continue to work closely with the Met Police to respond to reports of drones at Heathrow.

"Based on standard operating procedures, working with Air Traffic Control and the Met Police, we have resumed departures out of Heathrow following a short suspension.

"We continue to monitor this situation and apologise to any passengers that were affected by this disruption.”

A Met Police statement said: "Police officers were amongst those who saw the drone and a full criminal investigation has been launched. We are carrying out extensive searches around the Heathrow area to identify any people who may be responsible for the operation of the drone.

“I want to be clear that the illegal operation of drones at an airfield is extremely dangerous. Under the Aviation Security Act it is an offence to endanger the safety of an aircraft, anyone found guilty of this offence could face a life sentence.

“We are deploying significant resources - both in terms of officers and equipment - to monitor the airspace around Heathrow and to quickly detect and disrupt any illegal drone activity; some of which are as a result of learning from the incidents at Gatwick.

“Following today's sighting, military assistance has been implemented to support us. However, we will not be discussing in any further detail the range of tactics available to us as this would only serve to potentially undermine their effectiveness."

A Department for Transport tweet said: "Chris Grayling: 'We are in contact with HeathrowAirport concerning the drone sighting.

"I have already spoken to both the Home Secretary and Defence Secretary and the military are preparing to deploy the equipment used at Gatwick at Heathrow quickly should it prove necessary."

(Image: @airlive.net/Twitter)

One traveller said: "On a plane waiting to take off at Heathrow and we are grounded as there is a “drone” flying over the airport.

"Police helicopter over the runway. Hope it is just a drone."

Matt Clarke wrote on Twitter: "Saw a green light descending quickly at approx this time whilst driving on M25 towards m4 by junction 14."

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan tweeted: ''Heathrow Airport has stopped departures while @metpoliceuk investigate a reported drone sighting.

"I am in contact with the police commissioner.

"Follow @HeathrowAirport for further updates and advice.''

(Image: @nadimbaig)

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Met Police earlier released a statement saying: "At approx 17:05hrs today we received reports of a sighting of a drone in the vicinity of Heathrow airport.

"As a precautionary measure, Heathrow Airport has stopped departures and officers based at Heathrow are currently investigating the reports with colleagues from airport"

Heathrow Airport is Britain's busiest air hub.

(Image: Google)

Some of the drone sightings near Gatwick during the airport shutdown may have belonged to police, it emerged last month.

Sussex Chief Constable Giles York made the admission as he said he felt “really sorry” over an innocent couple being held for 36 hours in connection with the disruption.

He insisted he was “absolutely certain” a rogue drone caused the three-day pre-Christmas chaos, but added confusion could have been caused as “we launched our own drones to investigate”.

(Image: GoogleMaps)

Mr York told Radio 4 that grounds for holding Paul Gait and Elaine Kirk, of Crawley, West Sussex, had been “well-founded” even though they said they felt violated by their arrest.

But his apology was only given to Mr Gait: “I am really sorry for what he went through.”

Police have not yet found the drone used to disrupt around 1,000 flights.