A passenger plane bound for a Scottish airport was forced to make an emergency landing shortly after it took off today.

The Easyjet flight EZY407 was travelling from Bristol to Glasgow when it signalled the alarm shortly before 5.00pm on Friday after a passenger took ill.

It declared a ‘Squawk 7700’ while flying north towards Scotland around twenty minutes after it took off at 4.35pm. 

An emergency squawk is used to identify an aircraft that has a possible issue and enables it to have priority over other air traffic.

Footage from flight radar app Plane Finder showed the plane made a rapid emergency descent into Bristol and remains grounded.

A spokesperson for EasyJet said: “We can confirm that flight EZY407 from Bristol to Glasgow today diverted back to Bristol due to a passenger on board requiring urgent medical assistance. The passenger was met by medical services on arrival and the flight will continue to Glasgow.

“The safety and wellbeing of our passengers and crew is always our highest priority. We would like to thank our passengers for their understanding."