A MAN triggered a major security alert at an airport after allegedly telling staff he had a bomb in his bag, police said yesterday.

The 40-year-old was said to have made the remark to workers at Teesside Airport on Sunday, before his planned flight to his home city of Dublin.

It happened as he was checking in and was being asked a series of routine security questions about his baggage, Durham Police said.

He was arrested and taken for questioning to Darlington police station, where he was charged with making a hoax bomb threat.

After being charged, he was released on police bail and is due to appear before Darlington magistrates on Tuesday.

As a result of the incident, he missed his Ryanair flight and had to make other arrangements.

Airport spokesman John Waiting said staff had taken the necessary precautions after hearing of the potential danger.

"The appropriate steps were taken by our staff and the captain was quite happy that the aircraft could eventually take off," he said.

It was the third bomb scare to be reported at the airport in just over a year.

Last December, airman Kenneth Drummond was fined £500 by Darlington magistrates after "joking" that he had explosives in his hand luggage as a British Midland flight prepared to take off for Heathrow.

The 23-year-old was also given a formal warning by the RAF following the incident, which occurred on November 16.

In February last year, holidaymaker Michael Brown was cleared of any wrongdoing at Bishop Auckland Magistrates' Court after telling a Teesside Airport security guard to "watch the Semtex" in his pockets.

The 20-year-old, from Bishop Auckland, made the comment as he went through heightened security checks three days after the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington.

Magistrates said it could not be proved that Mr Brown's words had been intended to cause harassment, alarm or distress and they found him not guilty.