British Airways chaos as police storm runway and stop passengers leaving

travellers faced chaos after Spanish police stormed a runway and caused a flight to be cancelled.

On Wednesday, October 9, a BA flight bound for Gibraltar was to due to adverse weather conditions at the British Overseas Territory.

This meant the return BA flight would depart from Malaga instead of Gibraltar.

However, Spanish border guards refused passengers in Gibraltar entry into Spain.

would not allow non-EU passengers in Gibraltar to be ferried to Malaga. As a result, the airline took the decision to cancel the return leg from Malaga to the UK, reports.

Despite Gibraltar authorities and their Spanish counterparts' hours-long attempts, the issue could not be resolved, leaving passengers stranded.

These passengers were accommodated in hotels in the Rock and rebooked on alternative flights on Thursday.

Spanish Policia Nacional officers at the border separating Gibraltar from La Línea argued that these travellers could not provide conclusive evidence-despite having a flight ticket in their name-that they intended to take the BA flight and would not remain illegally in Schengen territory.

However, Spain and Gibraltar have established protocols that allow passengers due to fly from Gibraltar to cross into Spain with their travel and flight documents if their service is diverted to Malaga.

No.6 Convent Place told the : "The Spanish Policia Nacional Inspector on duty refused access to third country nationals, contrary to established protocols and the proper application of the Schengen Border Code, in what appears to have been a unilateral action not supported by the Interior Ministry in Madrid.

"The established protocol involves supplying a new boarding card showing the flight now leaving from Malaga, and providing a passenger list to the frontier authorities."

Express.co.uk has contacted BA for comment.