Passengers were escorted off a plane with police in attendance at Liverpool Airport this morning over a security threat.
Officers boarded the 9:40 easyJet flight from Liverpool John Lennon Airport to Venice after the captain decided to halt take-off over security fears.
One witness claimed that fears were raised over a 'suspicious sticker' found on the plane.
Passengers were taken off the flight and put on buses while the plane was searched.
One passenger who was on the plane said: "Rumour has it that the plane arrived from Ireland and there was an untoward sticker left on the plane.
"The pilot confirmed there was a sticker and the police and doing a full sweep of the plane before boarding again."
The airline pilot made the decision to keep the flight on the runway and remove passengers while police searched the plane.
After the search was completed, passengers were allowed to re-board the plane and it then continued its journey.
Merseyside Police confirmed they attended the airport earlier this morning after a 'suspicious item' was reported by airport staff.
A police spokesperson said: "We can confirm that officers attended John Lennon Airport this morning (Saturday 21 September 2019) following reports of a suspicious item.
"At around 10.15 am, a suspicious item was seen on a plane due to fly out of the airport, and the captain requested passengers disembark so that airline staff could search the plane as a precaution.
"No items that posed any risk to passengers were discovered and at around 11am they were allowed to re-board the flight, which is continuing its journey."
