Manchester Airport passengers face long queues after evacuation

Passengers described facing "chaos" with long queues and delays after part of Manchester Airport was evacuated.

People were told to leave Terminal Three by armed police and the fire service at about 06:00 BST on Thursday.

Passenger Luke Thompson said "huge" numbers of people were waiting to be let back in through security.

The airport said a fire alarm had been sounded by staff "as a safety precaution" and travellers were back inside within 30 minutes.

The airport declined to explain the reason for sounding the alarm.

"A fire alarm process is disruptive to those impacted but safety is paramount," a spokesman said.

Travellers have been experiencing disruption due to cancellations and long waits at the airport since March, which the organisation said was down to a lack of staff and a spike in demand.

Luke Thompson, from Warrington, described the scenes on Thursday as "total chaos".

"I was waiting at the front of the security queue when a big loud speaker came on which said an incident had occurred and staff told us to leave," he said.

The 25-year-old, who was due to get on a flight at 07:45, said he and others were waiting outside for an hour.

"Now I am at the back of a huge, huge queue - which is so much longer than before."

Kelsey-Anne Grady, who was booked on a 06:30 flight, said the airport had delayed flights for those stuck at security.

"We made it because we were fast-tracked through," she told the BBC.

Greater Manchester Police said a member of the public activated it the alarm by mistake and there was a routine evacuation.

An airport spokesman said: "The evacuation was not for long at all and people were back inside within 30 minutes of being asked to leave."

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