Tha aircraft was forced to return to Cardiff, after leaving for Paris

The bmibaby aircraft, the 0733 BST flight to Paris, landed safely with 128 passengers on board, said a South Wales Police spokesman.

Passengers on flight WW5951 then faced a six hour wait before leaving in a replacement aircraft.

The pilot decided to return to Cardiff as a precaution after take-off.

John Horne, Cardiff International Airport managing director said: "The pilot was aware that he'd struck a bird and in those circumstances the natural thing to do is to return and make sure all is well - and that is exactly what happened."

The aircraft landed at 0758 and the passengers, who include one baby, were taken back to the departure lounge.

bmibaby said the passengers eventually left for Paris in a replacement aircraft at 1406.

Engineers were still working on the original aircraft in case of any damage.