PASSENGERS were hit by long delays at Stansted Airport because of emergency repairs to one of the runways.

In total 11 flights had to be diverted to other airports including Luton and East Midlands due to the shutting of the landing strip on Sunday evening.

Passengers reports that the issue was caused by a hole that had been found in the runway.

This had a knock on effect on flights from the airport and passengers reported long delays in taking off and some flights were cancelled.

A spokesman for Stansted Airport said: “The airport's runway was temporarily closed between 5.30pm and 6.10pm on Sunday to allow for minor repairs to be safely carried out.

“Some arriving flights were diverted to other airports during the closure.

“This temporary measure was deemed necessary for safety reasons.”

The runway was reopened and flight operations were back to normal by Monday morning.