PASSENGERS flying from Southend to Faro face a seven hour delay because of a technical issue with the aircraft.

The Easyjet flight was due to leave at 7.50am this morning but due to a technical fault the flight did not take off.

Passengers now expect to fly at 2.50pm this afternoon.

The budget airline is offering refreshment vouchers for passengers stranded at the Southend terminal.

Easyjet said in a statement: “Due to a technical issue with the aircraft planned to operate your flight we have had to arrange a replacement aircraft to operate yours.

“Regrettably we have had to delay your flight substantially due to the availability of this aircraft which will be coming from Berlin.

“We appreciate that this is very inconvenient and our ground staff will be keeping check-in open until 1 hour before departure.

“Also our ground staff will be issuing light refreshment vouchers in the terminal building. We apologise for the delay and please monitor this page for further information.”

For details on the expected departure visit: www.southendairport.com/flightinfo/departures.

Have you been affected by the flight delay? Call the newsroom on 01702 321 148.