A grandmother was hauled off a flight by armed police after refusing to pay £9 for a frozen tuna sandwich.
Lily Ifield, 79, was on her way to Turkey for a four-day birthday holiday when she was served the ‘soggy’ and ‘cold’ sandwich onboard a Jet2 flight.
But after refusing to cough up the £9, the cabin crew reminded her ‘this isn’t a restaurant, it’s a plane’ before calling four officers armed with guns and batons to escort her from the plane when it landed in Bodrum.
Ms Ifield, a retired secretary from Ware, Hertfordshire, told The Sun: ‘The police were standing at the entrance to the plane, waiting with guns like we were master criminals.
‘We had no idea what we had done. I was turning round to people, saying “I think I’ve been arrested over a sandwich”.
Lily Ifield, 79, was met by armed police in Turkey after refusing to pay £9 for a still-frozen tuna sandwich
Ms Ifield was on a Jet2 flight from Stansted to Bodrum when she was served the ‘soggy’ bap
‘The steward said, “will you shut up”. He said, “I don’t want you talking”. I said “excuse me, I can talk as much as I like”. We were being treated like convicts over a bap.’
Ms Ifield and her daughter were left ‘shaking’ after they were met by armed police before being ‘frog-marched’ through the airport even though she uses a walking stick for her bad knee.
The grandmother-of-one claims that she kept asking what the problem was, but that the police said they could not speak English.
She claimed that it was only when they realised how ‘stupid’ it was that they were allowed to go. ‘They were clearly so embarrassed,’ she said.
Ms Ifield said her and her daughter were left so upset by the flight that they stayed in their room for four days.
She told The Sun: ‘It ruined our holiday. All over a flipping tuna sandwich. No-one would have eaten that.’
Ms Ifield and her daughter, who flew out from Stansted on November 3, said they spent £50 on four mini bottles of wine to calm their nerves before refusing to pay for the tuna sandwich.
However, they say that then they complained to the airline, they were accused of ‘unacceptable’ behaviour and warned they could be banned from all UK airlines.
Ms Ifield said her and her daughter were left so upset by the flight that they stayed in their room for four days. (File image of tuna sandwich)
She also blasted claims from the airline that they had smuggled alcohol on board the flight.
The mother and daughter flew back with Jet 2 on November 7.
A spokeswoman for Jet2 told The Sun: ‘We can confirm that these customers displayed continued disruptive and unpleasant behaviour on board flight LS1609 from London Stansted to Bodrum, including the illicit consumption of alcohol that had been purchased in duty free and brought on board.
‘As a result, police met the aircraft on arrival at Bodrum to escort Mrs Ifield and her daughter off the aircraft.
‘As a family-friendly airline, we take a zero-tolerance approach to such behaviour, and we make it very clear that customers cannot consume their own alcohol on flights.
‘We will always support our crew in instances when they are subjected to disruptive, rude or unpleasant behaviour while prioritising the comfort of all customers and crew so that they can enjoy their flight.’
Reacting to the statement on The JVS Show on Three Counties Radio, Ms Ifield said: ‘I don’t know what they’re talking about.
‘I think they’re so embarrassed over this sandwich and the police and the way we were treated.
‘They are the ones that behaved disgustingly and disturbed me all the way through the flight.’
MailOnline has contacted Jet2 for comment.