A United Airlines flight was forced to return to Heathrow Airport this afternoon (Sunday, September 23) due to a passenger who was allegedly drunk and disruptive.

The flight bound for Washington was forced to perform a U-turn and then dump fuel before landing back at Heathrow.

The incident ended with a 43-year-old woman being arrested once the flight was back on the ground.

Writing on Twitter, one passenger alleged that a flight attendant had been assaulted by a passenger who had been drinking gin.

A flight had to return to Heathrow this afternoon

Police met United Airlines flight UA919 at the airport after the crew experienced trouble aboard.

"The flight returned to Heathrow where the woman was arrested on suspicion of being drunk on board an aircraft, failing to obey the orders of the crew, and assault," a Met Police spokesman said.

"She remains in police custody at a west London police station. This arrest is not terror related."

The 209 passengers will have to wait until Monday morning for a new flight due to the incident, the airline confirmed.

"Our team at London Heathrow is providing assistance to customers of United flight UA919 (London Heathrow - Washington/Dulles) today, which returned to London Heathrow and was met by police on arrival due to an unruly passenger on board," the airline's spokeswoman said.

"The passenger was arrested and this is now a matter for the police."

The delays caused the plane's crew of 13 to exceed their legally-permitted duty hours, meaning the flight to Washington's Dulles Airport had to be cancelled, United's spokeswoman added.

She said: "We are providing our customers with meal vouchers and hotel accommodation and are making arrangements for them to complete their journeys tomorrow.

"We apologise to our customers for the inconvenience caused."

The Boeing 787-8 will depart London Heathrow on Monday at 10.30am (GMT), the spokeswoman said.