Thousands of air travellers have had their journeys disrupted after Gatwick Airport had to close its runway due to a broken-down aircraft.

A total of 23 flights had to be cancelled due to a “departing aircraft having hot brakes”, the airport said.

It said the runway has now been cleared and is operating as normal, and the broken down plane has been moved.

The airport said the runway was closed for 50 minutes.

The incident involved a British Airways flight to Vancouver, Canada.

A statement from the airline said: “Our pilots took the precautionary decision to cancel take-off due to a technical issue.

“Safety is always our top priority and we apologise to customers for the inconvenience caused.”