THE emergency services were scrambled on Wednesday night after a plane had to make a forced landing at Belfast City Airport.

The Flybe plane suffered minor technical difficulties shortly after departing for Manchester at 8.20pm on Wednesday.

However, the pilot decided to return to the City Airport as a precautionary measure after just 15 minutes into the scheduled flight.

Nearby roads were closed and the plane landed safely at 8.55pm.

There were 36 passengers and four members of crew on board.