A British Airways passenger plane has been forced to make an emergency landing at a Scottish airport.

Police and the fire service were put on alert as the aircraft landed at Prestwick airport, in Ayrshire, just after 1800BST.

The plane, which was flying from Glasgow International to Belfast City airport, landed safely and its 39 passengers and four crew were removed and taken to the terminal building.

Passengers were transfered to another plane and arrived in Belfast shortly before 2200 BST almost four hours later than expected.

They praised the British Airways crew for the way they handled the emergency landing.

"The plane took off early this evening from Glasgow but shortly after this the pilot reported problems with one engine and decided to land at the nearest airport, which was Prestwick," said a spokesman for the airport.

"He informed the tower of his intentions and our emergency plan was put into place.

"Fire crews signalled in the craft when it landed and its emergency chutes were deployed."