Heathrow departures temporarily halted after drone sighting

Departures at Heathrow Airport were temporarily suspended after a drone was sighted, the airport said on Tuesday.

A Heathrow spokeswoman said the airport was working with police to "prevent any threat to operational safety".

"As a precautionary measure, we have stopped departures while we investigate. We apologise to passengers for any inconvenience this may cause."

It comes after Gatwick Airport descended into chaos last month when several drones sightings were reported.

"The Metropolitan Police said they received reports of a drone sighting near Heathrow at about 17:05 GMT. We continue to work with the Met Police on reports of drones at Heathrow. We are working with Air Traffic Control and the Met Police, and have resumed departures out of Heathrow after a short suspension," the airport said in a statement.