A MAN has appeared in court after trying to board a plane with a shotgun at Southend Airport.

A 65-year-old man from the Canary Islands was arrested at the airport after the disassembled gun was found in his luggage on Friday.

The man, who had a ticket for a flight to Barcelona, was charged with possessing a firearm without a certificate and appeared at Southend Magistrates' Court yesterday.

Security staff uncovered the gun after the man’s luggage was searched at about 10am.

A police spokeswoman said: “He had the component parts of a gun. He had obviously taken it apart.”