Manston airport was at the centre of a major alert last night after reports smoke was pouring from a plane.

More than 30 firefighters surrounded the KLM aircraft on the runway of Kent International Airport in Thanet.

Kent Fire and Rescue Service said six crews and specialist units were scrambled to the scene at just after 7.30pm.

However, it turned out to be a false alarm and firefighters left the airport at around 7.50pm.

It is not known if any passengers were on board the plane at the time of the alert.

KLM has been running twice-daily return flights from Manston to Amsterdam since March.

The move links passengers with 133 destinations accessed from Schiphol's hub airport.

Manston aims to boost boost annual passenger numbers from one million to five million by 2033.

Last year, nearly 50 million passengers passed through Schiphol, making it one of Europe's busiest airports.