A family is demanding compensation after enduring a delayed flight which ended with police boarding the plane to arrest a passenger.

Tony Harris, 40, a Brighton media executive, his partner, Yvonne Shooter, 32, and four-year-old daughter, Charlotte, arrived home in Seaford from Crete after being delayed for six hours.

He is demanding compensation from Virgin Sun after chaos at the check-in desk, seeing their cases thrown 15ft out of the plane on to tarmac, being forced to wait on-board for more than three hours before take-off and witnessing a punch-up.

Mr Harris said: "We just could not believe what went wrong on that flight. This was one of the best holidays we have had but I can honestly say this was the worst flight I have ever experienced."

Heightened security following the US hijackings sparked some of the problems.

Things started going wrong at Heraklion airport where there was only one check-in for 180 passengers.

Mr Harris said: "People were pushing in and it was taking ages and that started tensions rising."

When the passengers finally boarded, the chief steward asked if anyone had any cigarette lighters in their luggage.

Fifteen people put up their hands.

The luggage was then thrown 15ft from the hold on to the tarmac and the passengers were asked to identify their cases, find their lighters and hand them to the stewards.

Mr Harris said: "When we checked in there was no mention of lighters being banned.

"We all knew about security being tightened and were prepared to comply with regulations but we should have been told beforehand."

As the meal was served, a male passenger asked a woman in front to move her seat forward. When she refused, he punched her in the face.

Passengers and three male stewards were forced to restrain the man, who had been drinking. He was moved to an area where the crew could watch him.

After landing at Gatwick, there was a 30-minute delay while police boarded and took the passenger away for questioning.

A further delay occurred when the truck towing the baggage trailer from the aircraft to the collection carousel broke down.

Mr Harris said: "I am writing to Sir Richard Branson demanding compensation and I am sure other passengers will do the same."

A spokeswoman for Virgin Sun said: "Most of the incidents which took place during this flight were out of our control although it's understandable they would curtail the enjoyment of one's holiday.

"There have been a whole range of security measures put in place all over the world since the terrorist attacks in America.

"I advise the customer to contact our customer services department and make a formal complaint.

"They will receive a full explanation and details of why any action was taken."