'Toilet paper shortage' on plane could land British Airways with £300,000 compensation bill

British Airways may have to pay compensation of nearly £300,000 because a plane on its way to Barbados was not properly stocked.

The 777 was due to leave Gatwick at 1.40pm on Sunday (5 March) but was delayed by an hour and 40 minutes because items were not loaded in time on the aircraft, the Independent reported.

One passenger Annabel Cliffe tweeted: "BA2153 sat on plane @ gatwick delayed with no idea of departure for wrong headphones!! Really??"

Another passenger, Bill Murray, later reported on Twitter: "BA2153 utter shambles. BA cost cutting means we're all disembarked due to shortage of bog roll!"

But the delay meant the crew were "out of hours" and so could not operate the flight within the legal time limits.

A new crew had to be assembled, taking three hours, and meaning the flight could not take off until almost five hours later.

Meanwhile, passengers in Bridgetown waiting to fly back to London on the same aircraft did not get to take off until five hours after their allotted time at 1.35am on Monday (6 March).

Under European passengers' rights rules, people whose long-haul flights are more than four hours late can get €600 (£520) in compensation, plus meals, as they wait for their flight. The total bill for passengers on the outbound and return flights could be as much £291,200, the Independent reported.

BA said that the delay was caused by "many items" not being fully loaded onto the aircraft.

"We gave customers refreshment vouchers so they could get something to eat and drink in the terminal and we got them away on their holidays as soon as the aircraft was ready."

Last week, a mouse spotted on a 777 flying from Heathrow to San Francisco delayed take-off as passengers were put on another aircraft. The knock-on delays could lead to a £250,000 compensation bill for passengers.