Thousands of airline passengers were delayed after Gatwick airport’s south terminal was evacuated because of a security alert.

Travellers were unable to check in for more than four hours due to the incident on Friday.

David Bouchardau, who was due to fly to Paris at around 1.30pm to return home, said: “I live in the countryside so I don’t know how the roads are going to be when I reach France. It’s going to be a long day.”

He said the airport staff were “trying their best”, adding: “There are many, many people. It’s a very difficult situation for everybody. You just have to be patient and wait for news.”

Brian Torres, 22, who was visiting from New York in the US, was in the terminal preparing to go through security checks when he was ordered to evacuate.

He said: “I was upstairs. We didn’t know what was going on.

“They ended up sending all of us out. We walked down the stairs then went to the street and stood there for a while.

“We were going into security but noticed the long line. It’s been busy (before) but never that busy.”

Mr Torres said the disruption “messes with my travel plans”.

He added: “I just want to get back home to talk to my mom. It’s scary.

“They’re not informing us about anything.”

Denice Sealy, who was travelling to Malta for her birthday, was in the security line but was told to turn around and go outside.

“When we got outside we didn’t know where to go because there were no staff there,” Ms Sealy said.

“Eventually, we just walked along to a car park.

“With regards to passengers and communication, it’s been absolute chaos.”

Ms Sealy said they were promised to be put on to a shuttle bus to the north terminal but it did not arrive.

“In the end, a load of us ended up walking from the south terminal to the north terminal, and it was freezing,” she said.

Patricia Lima, from Brazil, who was due to fly to the US following a holiday in the UK, was among passengers at London Victoria struggling to reach the airport.

The 36-year-old said she was “disappointed” and “tired”, adding: “I don’t feel well when we don’t have much information.”