British athletes and staff left stranded in Budapest after World Championships

The group of around 40 people have been unable to return to the UK as planned due to the ongoing flight disruptions.

A group of around 40 athletes and staff have been left stuck in Budapest (Alberto Pezzali/AP) (AP)

Around 40 British athletes and staff have been stranded in Budapest following the World Championships due to the travel disruptions in the UK.

The group of both athletes and staff members from UK Athletics were forced to return to their hotel after the flight havoc which has impacted thousands of passengers since Monday.

UK airspace was hit with a network-wide failure for air traffic control systems which caused disruption and hundreds of flights to be delayed or cancelled.

Some athletes are now travelling from Budapest directly to Zurich for the Diamond League meeting on Thursday while the UKA is working to get other athletes back home but do not yet know when they will return.

Great Britain were returning from Hungary after a successful World Championships where they won 10 medals – the joint highest in their history.