A Virgin Atlantic passenger plane has carried out a "non-standard landing" at Gatwick airport after "a technical issue with one of the landing gears".

Virgin had said flight VS43 travelling from Gatwick to Las Vegas had to return to the West Sussex airport.

The aircraft circled repeatedly between Gatwick and the south coast of England apparently to burn off fuel.

The plane is a Boeing 747. Airport emergency services were on the runway.

A Virgin spokesman said: "Virgin Atlantic can confirm that flight VS43 on December 29, travelling to McCarran International Airport Las Vegas, returned to Gatwick due to a technical issue with one of the landing gears."

Experts have said the flight may have been dumping fuel and photos appear to show one of the landing gears at an angle.

"The lighter the aircraft is the slower it can land," said air traffic control expert Philip Butterworth-Hayes.

Flight VS43 took off at 11.44am from Gatwick and was heading to Las Vegas.

Twitter users have reported seeing emergency vehicles heading for the West Sussex airport.

A tweet by the airport said: "In line with standard procedure, emergency services are on standby at the airport purely as a precaution."

Flight data appears to show the aircraft made it to the South West before turning back.