Passengers were grounded for more than 11 hours last night after their plane wouldn't start.

Flybe has promised its customers a full refund after its BE142 flight from Newcastle to Southampton which was due to leave at 8.45am Monday morning did not take off until 8.10pm.

The airline said the delay was due to a technical fault but stranded customers were told at the airport that the de-icer had broken and an engineer was unable to start the plane.

Another plane was eventually sent from Southampton Airport to collect passengers.

Andrew McConnell, from Flybe said: "Flybe wishes to sincerely apologise to the passengers affected by the delayed flight from Newcastle to Southampton.

"The delay was due to a technical fault. An engineer was dispatched to repair the aircraft, but regrettably the fault could not be fixed, meaning a replacement aircraft was needed.

"A replacement aircraft was made available as soon as possible, but unfortunately passengers experienced a lengthy delay for which we sincerely apologise.

"All passengers who travelled on the delayed flight will be contacted by Flybe and given a full refund.

"As Europe's largest regional airline, we are committed to the highest standards in customer service and we are sorry that our customers have been affected by today’s technical difficulties."