A woman passenger was removed from a plane after she smuggled a dog onto a London-bound British Airways flight.

She managed to get the tiny teacup Yorkshire terrier past security at Tel Aviv's Ben-Gurion Airport, which prides itself on having the strictest anti-terror measures in the world.

The Airbus A321 had taxied as far as the runway (on Sunday night March 3) when a passenger alerted cabin and crew that there was a dog on board and the plane turned back to the stand.

The passenger had heard a squeaking noise from under a seat.

BA staff questioned the woman, believed to be American, then after some discussion removed her, the dog and her luggage from the plane.

One passenger said: "People are concerned about the security implications. How on earth did she manage to get a dog through security at Ben-Gurion?"

The dog owner was occupying a window seat. The passenger next but one to her raised the alarm.

The BA flight 166 from Tel Aviv to Heathrow had already been delayed from its original take-off time of 7.00pm (local Israeli time) but was on time for its re-scheduled slot at 8.40pm.

Cabin crew had already given passengers their safety briefing when the dog was discovered.

The captain announced that the woman had been removed after a dog was found in her bag.

A British Airways spokesman said the passenger would have passed through all the relevant security and immigration points at Tel Aviv.

She said: "We did not allow a female customer to travel on board our service from Tel Aviv to Heathrow today after it was discovered, shortly after boarding, that she was carrying a small dog in her handbag.

"We apologise to our customers who experienced a delay to the departure of their flight as a result of this incident."