EasyJet passengers were left stranded for hours in Manchester and Milan after their pilot cancelled their flight 10 minutes before it was set to depart for Turkey on Friday.

After being stuck at Manchester Airport for more than four hours, passengers finally boarded their plane to Antalya, but were told while in the air that it was diverting more than 1,200 miles away to Milan.

Flighthad been due to depart Manchester at 7.45am, but customers were made to return to the terminal because of traffic control restrictions caused by adverse weather across Europe, the airline said.

EasyJet said the delay would have pushed the crew to exceed their legally permitted hours, so a stop in Milan was arranged to replace the crew and refuel.

Passengers faced more delays at Milan airport, arriving just after 2pm local time, and not leaving for Antalya until 8.30pm. They were given €25 food vouchers while they waited for their new crew to arrive.

An easyJet spokesperson said: “We are sorry for any inconvenience this will have caused and did all we could to minimise the impact of the disruption. The safety and wellbeing of our customers and crew is always easyJet’s highest priority.”

It did not say whether passengers were entitled to compensation or a refund.

James Lanson, who had been travelling with his wife and two-year-old daughter, described the situation as a “sh**show”.

Speaking from Milan, he told Manchester Evening News: “I used to work as a prison officer and the prison that I used to work in kept the prisoners in better condition.”

He added: “We were due to get there at 12pm. We thought we'd get there nice and early and have a full day there today. So it's a great start to the holiday, which was meant to be seven days and is now going to be six days.

“It's a sh**show. We've been told the crew that are coming to fly our plane to take us to Antalya are coming from Manchester. No one's given us any information. All they've done is given us a voucher.”

Manchester airport declined to comment.