Passengers at Stansted Airport faced “chaos” on Friday morning after a passenger smoking an e-cigarette in one of the toilets set off a fire alarm.
Pictures from the Essex airport showed huge crowds of people being held outside the entrance.
Passenger Tom Orrell tweeted: “Chaos at @STN_Airport as fire alarm blares.
“No crowd control. Ppl entering through one door as we're ferried out another. “
A spokesman for Stansted confirmed a smoke detector was set off near the departure lounge at 5.59am but said the airport was not evacuated.
Travellers who had already made their way through security were said to be unaffected by the alarm.
He said: “Passengers were held back from entering security for 15 minutes following the alarm activation.
"We believe the smoke alarm was set off due to an individual using an e-cigarette in a toilet.
"We apologise for any inconvenience caused by the alarm but our priority will always be to take the necessary and appropriate actions to investigation any activation to ensure the safety of passengers and staff is maintained at all times."
