A British Airways passenger jet was forced to divert to Shannon Airport due to a technical fault.

Flight 213 landed safely at 1.37pm on Friday, shortly after take-off.

The transatlantic flight took off from London Heathrow at 11.15am bound for Boston.

It was about an hour into its journey when it was diverted to the west of Ireland airport.

There were reports of smoke being detected on board.

It is believed there were 239 passengers and crew on the aircraft.

A Shannon Airport spokeswoman confirmed the aircraft had been diverted due to a technical problem.

Emergency services attended the scene as a precaution.

A British Airways spokesman said: “The aircraft landed normally after our highly-trained pilots diverted the flight as a precaution.”

British Airways said a replacement aircraft was being arranged to take passengers to Boston.