A BOURNEMOUTH flight has been diverted to Gatwick Airport after a suspected bird strike.

The TUI flight to Rhodes took off from Bournemouth Airport at 3.04pm and has been circling Dorset since.

Read more: "It was a bit scary", says passenger onboard diverted flight after bird strike

A spokesperson from TUI said: “We can confirm flight TOM6624 reported a suspected bird strike shortly after takeoff from Bournemouth. 

“The aircraft is expected to divert to Gatwick Airport for an engineering inspection. 

“We’ll be in direct contact with impacted customers to provide them with more information and support and we’ll get them back on their way as soon as possible.”

A number of concerned residents contacted the Daily Echo after watching the flight circle parts of Dorset for almost an hour, this afternoon.

The Boeing 737 is currently at an altitude of around 4,000 feet.

It can be seen on Flightradar circling parts of east Dorset and north Bournemouth.

It was scheduled to arrive at Rhodes at 8.55pm.