Virgin Atlantic flight makes priority landing at Heathrow after passenger taken ill onboard

A Virgin Atlantic plane was forced to request a priority landing at Heathrow Airport after a passenger was taken ill on board.

The VS20 flight was arriving in London from San Francisco when the pilot notified Air Traffic Control (ATC) of the issue.

The passenger plane remained at 38,000ft as the pilot waited for a space to touch down ahead of other flights scheduled to land.

Medical assistance was scrambled to the runway for the unwell passenger.

The official Twitter account for Virgin Atlantic tweeted: "The VS20 has been given a priority landing into LHR due to a customer requiring medical assistance (not an emergency landing)."

A spokeswoman for the airline said the plane had landed safely.