A British Airways plane was forced to turn back to Heathrow after flames spat out of the engine.

British Airways said flight BA0364 to Lyon, France, which took off at approximately 9pm yesterday touched down safely, adding that the aircraft would be "thoroughly checked over by engineers".

In a statement, British Airways said: "A flight experienced what's known as an 'engine surge' as it took off from Heathrow, but it has now returned and touched down safely. We train our pilots to the very highest standards including how to respond to these type of events, and the engine was immediately shut down."