Drunken plane brawl may cost dear

A father and son who forced a holiday flight from Tenerife to Birmingham to divert after a mid-air brawl could face a bill of thousands of pounds from the airline.

The father, identified as a Mr Rogers, in his 60s and from Wakefield, West Yorkshire, was expected to leave the Portuguese capital Lisbon last night with his son after being ejected from the Airtours Boeing 757 on Friday.

A company spokesman described it as a domestic dispute and said the men had been "inebriated".

He added that they could be liable for the massive cost of the extra fuel that had to be burned off for the plane to land in Lisbon.

The 200 other passengers on the plane were forced to endure a four-hour delay.