POLICE have confirmed there were no bombs on board a plane that was diverted because of a security alert.

A Ryanair flight from Paris to Dublin was diverted to Prestwick airport near Glasgow after a note was passed to the cabin crew claiming that there was a bomb on the Boeing 737.

Ryanair said the captain immediately reported this to UK air traffic control and was instructed to divert to Prestwick.

It was accompanied to Prestwick by three RAF Tornado fighters, landing at 2.20pm.

The plane was en route from Beauvais to Dublin yesterday with 167 passengers on board, including 71 children.

Flight FR025 finally landed at Dublin International Airport at 11.30pm last night after being allowed to leave Prestwick.

Strathclyde Police said all passengers were questioned and a search of the aircraft found no suspicious objects.

Most passengers said they had been treated well.

But one of them, Charlie Fitzgerald from Belfast, said passengers' civil rights were abused and they were treated as if they were part of a security exercise.