More than 250 passengers on a Virgin Atlantic flight were stranded overnight at the Gander Airport in Newfoundland in Canada overnight after the airplane had to make an emergency landing.

The total of 255 passengers on the flight from London to New York had to spend the night at Gander Airport after technical fault forced the VS25 plane to land in Canada. The flight was forced to make a landing at 22:30 local time on Saturday and a relief flight was due to take off from Gander for New York John F. Kennedy at 16:55 on the following day.

Virgin Atlantic has expressed apologies to the passengers and said that it was not able to find hotel accommodation for the passengers. A spokesperson for the airline said that the food and drink costs would be refunded to the passengers.

Virgin Atlantic spokeswoman said, "Virgin Atlantic can confirm that flight VS25 from London Heathrow to New York JFK diverted to Gander due to a technical fault. Our engineers are on their way to the site to inspect the plane. The safety and welfare of passengers and crew is Virgin Atlantic's top priority. The airline would like to thank passengers for their patience and apologise for any inconvenience caused."