Gatwick Airport is fully open again after one of its terminals was closed when a package triggered a security alert.

The South Terminal was closed to new passengers for more than four hours on Friday as Sussex Police deployed its bomb disposal unit because of “the discovery of a suspected prohibited item in luggage”.

The force said it was called to the airport at 8.20am and passengers who had not cleared security were required to evacuate at around 10.30am.

Police said a “security cordon had been put in place” inside the South Terminal.

Police blocked the entrance to the South Terminal (Image: Eddie Mitchell) At the time, a spokesman for Gatwick said: “A large part of the south terminal has been evacuated as a precaution while we continue to investigate a security incident.

“Passengers will not be able to enter the South Terminal while this is ongoing.

“The safety and security of our passengers and staff remains our top priority.

“We are working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.”

Around 100,000 passengers were set to fly in and out of the airport on Friday, but some had their flights cancelled or delayed.

The North Terminal was completely unaffected.

Evacuated passengers were left with nowhere to go (Image: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire) Flights continued to depart from the South Terminal, but were only carrying passengers who had passed through security before the incident began.

Sussex Police said in a statement: “Police were called to the south terminal at Gatwick Airport at 8.20am on Friday following the discovery of a suspected prohibited item in luggage.

“To ensure the safety of the public, staff and other airport users, a security cordon has been put in place whilst the matter is dealt with.

“As a precaution, an EOD (explosive ordnance disposal) team is being deployed to the airport.

“This is causing significant disruption and some roads around the South Terminal have been closed.

“We’d advise the public to avoid the area where possible.”

Incident response units were dispatched as a precaution (Image: Eddie Mitchell) Ambulances and incident response units were dispatched to Gatwick Airport to assist the police.

A spokesman for South East Coast Ambulance Service said at the time: “We continue to be on scene to support the security incident and evacuation at Gatwick Airport.

"Separately we have responded to a small number of medical incidents for individuals at the airport as we would expect to routinely on any given day."

Water, blankets and silver foil was given to evacuated passengers by Gatwick Airport staff members.

Some flights had departed from the South Terminal since the evacuation, meaning some passengers may have been unable to board.

Several British Airways departures were delayed by at least one hour and 40 minutes, including to Orlando, USA, Funchal, Portugal and Tenerifen.

Spanish carrier Vueling ordered inbound flights from Barcelona and Seville to turn around and return to their starting airports.

Blankets and silver foil was given to evacuated passengers by Gatwick Airport staff (Image: J. Gabriel) Nejadeen Braham, 35, who works as a nurse on the Isle of Man, was due to fly to her homeland of Jamaica to collect her children.

She said: “I couldn’t get in the airport. I saw everybody coming (out) from one direction.

“I was supposed to go inside, drop my bags and go through security.

“When I got here I saw everybody coming down.

“There were no proper updates.

“I m very frustrated.”

British Airways said in a statement that it was “providing them [passengers] with options including flight re-bookings and hotel accommodation where necessary.

“We ask customers to check ba.com for the latest flight information before coming to the airport.”

Train services at Gatwick had been suspended, as the railway station is attached to the South Terminal.

Emma from Portslade, who asked not to give her surname, had just landed from a trip to Istanbul in Turkey when she was told that passengers could not leave the plane due to a “security issue”.

She said: “All we've been told is that there's a security issue and that because the South Terminal is closed, we're waiting for shuttle busses to take us to the North Terminal.

After nearly an hour of waiting she was let out of the airport but could not find transport to take her home.

She added: “It looks like its going to be difficult getting back to Portslade.

"All the trains are cancelled but I've managed to book a coach back at 7.35pm, so I've got quite a lot of waiting around to do."

Flight crew re-entering the airport (Image: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire) The building was closed to new passengers for several hours after which the airport released a statement at 2.44pm which said: “The earlier security alert has now been resolved and cleared by police.

“The south terminal is reopening to staff and will be open to passengers shortly.”

It added: “There are some delays and cancellations. Passengers should contact their airline for any updates on flights.”

At 4.06pm, Sussex Police released a statement to officially conclude their investigation into the report of a “suspicious package”.

They stated that Officers from the EOD team had “made the package safe” and that the airport had been cleared.

Then at 5pm a spokesman said: “Two people who were detained while enquiries were ongoing have subsequently been allowed to continue their journeys.

“Once the package was deemed safe, it was found that there was no risk to the public.

“However, in the interest of safety and security, it was important to allow the specialists the time and space that they needed to complete their assessment and deal with the package.”

Aviation analytics website Cirium said 316 flights were scheduled to depart from the airport on Friday, with a total of more than 60,600 seats.

A further 318 flights were scheduled to arrive, with more than 61,400 seats.