Ryanair flight to Tenerife is diverted to Spain and met by police after 'conflictive' passenger sparks trouble on board

A holiday flight from Liverpool to Tenerife was diverted tonight as a result of a 'troublesome' passenger.

According to Spanish air traffic controllers, the plane was a Ryanair service to the Canary island.

Full details have yet to emerge but the problem on board was sufficiently serious enough for the police to be called.

Controllers said the crew raised the alert yesterday evening.

They reported: 'The crew of a flight from Liverpool to Tenerife south have contacted us about a conflictive passenger on board and have had to divert to Santiago de Compostela.'

Police were asked to meet the plane with urgency on the tarmac and a doctor was also needed.

The air traffic controllers said the crew had tried to calm the situation but asked for officers to greet the aircraft after its emergency landing at Santiago on the Spanish mainland.

The aircraft was a Ryanair Boeing 737. No further details have yet been given as to the nature of the incident on board and it is not known if any arrests were made at Santiago.