Plane circles over Manchester for hours due to fault

The plane landed at 12:38 after circling for more than four hours

A plane has landed safely at Manchester Airport after circling for more than four hours due to a technical fault.

The Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) Dreamliner, which departed from Jeddah at 02.32 BST and was due to land at 08:30, started to circle over the Peak District.

The plane landed at 12:28. It had a total of six hours of fuel reserves.

The airline said there was an issue with the trailing edge flaps and it was waiting for a dry runway.

The flaps are used to help control the speed and angle of an aircraft's descent.

A spokesman for Saudia said once the wet weather had cleared up in Manchester, the plane was able to land safely.

He said it was carrying six hours' worth of fuel reserves.