It was only 20 minutes into the journey when a terrified holidaymaker found a hand-written note in a toilet, claiming there was a bomb on board the Dominican Republic to Newcastle International Airport flight on Monday.

He immediately alerted a stewardess and, when two more notes were discovered, the pilot left the cockpit to see them for himself.

But he decided the notes were a hoax and chose to continue with the scheduled flight, rather than divert to the nearest airport.

But passengers Leighton O'Doherty, 25, and Nicola Davison, 22, who were returning home after a two-week holiday in the Dominican Republic, claim they had no idea such threats were found.

And they say that if they had known, they would have demanded the pilot to land the plane at the earliest possible opportunity.

Mr O'Doherty, a Navy engineer, who lives with his fiancee in Wellington Street, Hebburn, said: "We feel completely deceived. We had absolutely no idea about the notes.

"I knew something was going on because a woman was crying for the entire journey, but I just thought she was ill.

"Now I know why she was so upset – she spent eight hours fearing for her life.

"When we were just about to land I looked out the window and saw loads of fire engines and police cars racing towards the airport.

"When we got off the plane we were piled into a bus and taken to the airport, and police started going on the plane."

He added: "It wasn't until we were in the airport that I heard someone behind me say a note was found saying there was a bomb on board.

"I couldn't believe it, the pilot was gambling with our lives, and the lives of everyone on board. He should have diverted as soon as he knew."

The Thomsonfly flight TOM2592, from Punta Cana, was searched by police after it landed on Monday morning, but no bombs were found.

A spokeswoman for Thomsonfly confirmed there had been a "security incident" and said the matter was in the hands of the police.

She maintained passengers were not placed at risk, adding "Thomsonfly can confirm the flight was met by police on arrival as a precautionary measure following a security incident on board.

"The airline can confirm that passengers and staff were not at risk and all of them disembarked and continued with their onward journey.

"The matter is now with police and as such we are unable to give more details.

Miss Davison, deputy manager at The Perfume Shop in Newcastle, added: "To be honest, I would rather not have known because I cannot image what would be going through my head had I known.

"But the pilot was wrong not to divert after the threats. It's better to be safe than sorry."

Northumbria Police said three hand-written notes had been found and all had "the hallmarks of a hoax".

A force spokesman said: "The notes, written on paper towels and left in the toilet, said there was a bomb on board. This incident had all the hallmarks of a hoax.

"The plane landed safely in a remote area of the airport and a full search of the airvcraft and luggage did not reveal any suspicious"