A suspected drone struck a British Airways (BA) plane coming in to land at Heathrow Airport with 132 passengers and five crew on board.

The incident now being investigated by the Metropolitan Police was reported by the pilot just after 12.50pm on Sunday.

Police confirmed that " an object, believed to be a drone , struck the front of the aircraft", but a spokesperson would not be drawn on whether the incident was in any way terror-related.

The Airbus A320 aircraft - flight BA727 from Geneva in Switzerland - was landing at Terminal 5 when it was hit.

British Airways said the plane was subsequently examined by engineers and cleared for its next flight after no damage was found.

The Met Police spokesperson said they were investigating but no arrests had been made.

Drone near-misses have previously been reported at Heathrow

"A pilot on an inbound flight into Heathrow Airport from Geneva reported to police that he believed a drone had struck the aircraft," the spokesperson said.

"The flight landed at Heathrow Terminal 5 safely. It transpired that an object, believed to be a drone, had struck the front of the aircraft.

"No arrests have been made and enquiries continue. Aviation police based at Heathrow are investigating."

When asked if police had ruled out the incident being terror-related or not, the spokesperson said: “We are not commenting on that at this time. The investigation is ongoing”.

Aviation police wrote on Twitter that the impact was reported to them by the concerned pilot.

They said: "Officers are currently speaking to a pilot who has reported a drone flying very close to his aircraft on approach to Heathrow .

"This is dangerous, it is also a crime. Please be aware of the rules before you start flying a drone."

Last month a bird collided with the nose cone of a Heathrow jet, forcing it to be grounded for 21 hours

A BA spokesperson said following the incident: "Our aircraft landed safely, was fully examined by our engineers and it was cleared to operate its next flight.

"Safety and security are always our first priority and we will give the police every assistance with their investigation."

Anyone caught flying an unmanned aircraft above 400ft or beyond their eyeline can be convicted under the Air Navigation Order 2009, with a maximum sentence of six months' imprisonment.

Should their actions cause a pilot to take evasive action, they could be charged with endangering an aircraft and jailed for life.