Ireland’s police are investigating the actions of a man on board a flight from Milan, which landed early and was held on the tarmac following an Ebola scare.

The passenger, believed to have been Italian, wrote “Be careful, Ebola” on his coffee cup which caused a brief scare. Authorities were alerted and the passenger was assessed. He did not have any signs of the deadly virus. The incident was over in 50 minutes.

A spokesman for Aer Lingus said "A security issue arose on flight EI 433 (Milan to Dublin.) As a precaution passengers and crew were temporarily detained on board the aircraft while the matter was investigated. Passengers have now disembarked the aircraft. An Garda Siochana are now dealing with the matter. As this is a security matter we have no further comment."

A spokesperson for the Dublin Airport Authority said “Following a minor security incident on board an Aer Lingus flight from Milan to Dublin, passengers were held on board the aircraft after it landed at Dublin Airport just before 1pm today.

"As a precaution, the incident was fully investigated by before passengers and crew disembarked as normal. The incident is now a matter for the gardaí."