The pilot of an Iberworld Airbus A330 heading to Cancún with 387 passengers on board was forced to return to Barcelona airport this lunchtime after noticing a problem with the landing gear doors.

After a warning light flashed on indicating that the doors had failed to close properly, the pilot decided to turn back for a full technical inspection "as a precautionary measure."

Indeed, there had been no apparent problems when the plane took off on schedule at 1.10pm though it was back on the ground again 25 minutes later.

None of the passengers were injured and the incident seems to have generated little panic on board. Once back on the ground, the passengers were invited to a complimentary lunch before being taken to several different hotels in nearby Sabadell to relax before resuming their journey later today.

Mechanics estimate that it will take several hours to complete repairs. Iberworld is hoping to meet promises of a revised departure time of 10pm.