Teesside Airport was forced to temporarily close its runway with flights diverted on Wednesday (May 3) evening after a plane veered off.

The incident happened at about 5.15pm when a light aircraft came off the runway and onto a grassy verge.

Air traffic controllers were forced to temporarily close the airport to arrivals to allow them to carry out an inspection of the runway, as per regulations.

Read more: The North East postcodes with the worst drivers - see how many there are near you

It is understood no one was injured and the aircraft was able to return to its stand a short time later.

Two flights, a KLM service coming in from Amsterdam and a small private jet arriving from London, had to be diverted to Newcastle Airport while the runway was closed for just under half an hour.

It was reopened after 29 minutes and flights resumed a short time later.

To get more stories direct to your email basket go here 

A Teesside Airport spokesperson said: “It was a light-aircraft that veered off the runway. The runway was briefly closed for 29 minutes.

“The KLM inbound service landed at another airport before repositioning to Teesside Airport to take our KLM passengers to Amsterdam.”