POLICE were called to quell angry passengers at Manchester Airport after their Christmas getaway plans were thrown into chaos.

Officers were asked to attend the easyJet check-in desk in Terminal 3 after the airline cancelled its only flight of the day from Manchester to Alicante, Spain.

Around 100 passengers were due to fly with the carrier, with many hoping to jet out to spend the festive period with loved-ones.

But their hopes were dashed when staff announced that the early morning flight on Christmas Eve – which was the airline's last departure to Alicante from the airport before Christmas - had been cancelled.

Furious

Police were called after a handful of furious passengers started to confront staff when they learned of the disruption.

One man was said to be acting 'aggressively' towards staff but had left before the officers arrived.

Police remained on standby until the crowd had dispersed and no arrests were made.

Some of the passengers were able to book on to a later Monarch flight to Alicante, meaning they would be able to spend Christmas in the Spanish city, but many were left disappointed.

The flight was one of three cancellations from Manchester on Christmas Eve morning.

A KLM flight to Amsterdam and an Air France flight to Paris were affected but passengers were accommodated on to later flights.

A spokesman for the airport said that staff were expecting a busy day with 137 flights due to depart.

Among the travellers were X Factor twins – John and Edward Grimes – nicknamed Jedward – who were flying home to spend Christmas in their native Dublin.

The 18-year-olds, who caused a stir on the hit show, were mobbed by fans as they flew out of Terminal 1 on Christmas Eve morning.

Andrew McConnell from easyJet said: “easyJet, like many airlines in the UK and Europe, have experienced unprecedented and extreme circumstances due to snow and bad weather conditions.

"We have done everything we can to operate as many flights as we can, however we acknowledge we have had to make a small number of cancellations at Manchester over the past seven days.

"In view of the particular cancellation today we sincerely apologise to customers on this flight and can confirm that passengers who did not travel will be entitle to a full refund. Those who travelled with alternative airlines or transport companies will also have their cost reimbursed.”