Southampton Airport was under full emergency alert yesterday when a Flybe flight was forced to turn back for an emergency landing with 64 passengers on board.

Fire crews from Eastleigh, Winchester and Redbridge were on standby as well as the airport's own ten-strong fire service when the BAE 146 aircraft came into land at 9.03am.

The flight had taken off just over an hour earlier at 7.47pm, bound for Chambery in France.

The aircraft was forced to turn back when it reached northern France because pressurisation difficulties in the cabin meant the aircraft could not fly higher than 8,000ft.

A spokesman for the airline said all passengers were scheduled to take another later flight.

"Everyone was absolutely fine. They were relaxed and calm and understood the reasons why we were returning to Southampton.

"Although the problem arose when the flight was over France the decision was taken to return to Southampton because of the back-up there. We also thought it would be better for the passengers, who would otherwise have been stranded at another French airport."

The spokesman added that it was extremely rare for the pressurisation problem to occur.

A Southampton Airport spokesman said the attendance of the fire crews was a routine precautionary measure.