EasyJet flight from tourist hotspot back to Britain CANCELLED after 'disruptive' passengers left crew 'traumatised'

Passengers claim they heard "shouting and screaming" while in a queue to board the plane, which was due to depart from the Spanish city at 11.25pm local time.

Three people, who seemed to be intoxicated according to an eyewitness, were reportedly escorted away by airline staff and police.

Passengers were then taken back to the check-in desk, where they were told the flight to Liverpool's John Lennon Airport was cancelled as the plane crew were "traumatised" by the incident.

EasyJet customer Gaynor Loguellou said her family were about 30ft away from the door of the plane when they heard "shouting" and saw officers from the Spanish Civil Guard walk past.

"The ground crew then said, 'you all have to go back to the desk, the captain wants to speak to you'. Then he said, ‘my crew are traumatised, so we’re cancelling your flight', she told the Liverpool Echo.

"We said, you're joking, we've got babies here and are about to get a flight home.

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"He said, ‘it's my decision, it's my crew, they are worried about passengers getting on.’"

James Holt, who was travelling back from Malaga with his partner, said he suspected something was wrong after queuing to board the plane for 40 minutes.

"It was after 15 minutes in this queue that we heard shouting and screaming, he told the Echo.

"Then these people were brought off one by one. It was clear they were very intoxicated."

Several passengers claimed they were told to "use an app" to book a new flight, with some saying they had to leave Malaga Costa Del Sol Airport on the evening of the cancellation with no accommodation available.

EasyJet has apologised for the disruption to passengers' journeys.

The airline has said it will reimburse customers who had to book their own accommodation.

An easyJet spokesman said: "Flight EZY3382 from Malaga to Liverpool was unable to operate due to a disruptive passenger incident on the inbound flight, which led to the crew being unable to operate the return flight.

"The safety and wellbeing of our customers and crew is our highest priority and our crew have a responsibility in line with safety regulations to declare if they do not feel fit to operate.

"While this was outside of our control, we are sorry for the inconvenience this will have caused and worked to minimise the impact of the disruption, providing options to rebook or receive a refund as well as hotel accommodation and meals, and will reimburse any customers who booked their own."