A 48-year-old woman who allegedly told check-in staff at Newcastle Airport that she had a bomb in her luggage was last night charged with communicating false information.

Lesley Brennan had arrived late for an easyJet flight to Paris, and was said to have become aggressive when she was told she could not catch the plane.

She was bailed to attend Newcastle Magistrates' Court on Friday.

The airline said Ms Brennan, who comes from South Tyneside, told staff she had a bomb in her luggage five times after she missed her 1.55pm flight.

The incident was recorded by a documentary team from the television company LWT making a fly-on-the-wall film about easyJet.

An airline spokeswoman said footage was not being released as it might be needed in evidence.

The airline said two women approached the check-in desk to catch the 1.55pm EZY 6725 flight to Charles de Gaulle.

The carrier has a policy of asking passengers to arrive at least 40 minutes before take-off, and they were told they had missed their flight.

They were sent to the sales desk to arrange another flight today.

The spokeswoman said: "LWT were filming at the time for the Airline documentary and one of the ladies became rather angry and stated that she had a bomb in her bag. Security was called and she was asked to repeat what she had said. She said it five times."

The incident followed the high-profile case of 21-year-old Samantha Marson, who was arrested in Miami after she joked she was carrying explosives.