STUNNED passengers held their breath after a plane from Southampton was struck by lightning during a ferocious thunderstorm shortly after take off.

The British Regional Airlines Embraer 145 jet, with 23 people on board, en-route for Dublin in Ireland, was climbing away from Southampton International Airport at lunchtime yesterday when passengers heard a loud bang and saw a sheet of light.

"It was just very quiet. It was more a case of waiting to see whether something was going to happen - or it was no big deal," said Niamh Dempsey, 35, who was travelling back to her home in Dublin after spending a couple of days on holiday in Portsmouth.

"I didn't think we were going to go down, but it was worrying. I knew something had happened and knew it was probably a lighting strike."

Ms Dempsey, pictured, said that although the plane kept climbing, the pilot powered back the engines - which caused her some concern - but within moments he was telling passengers what had happened.

But Ms Dempsey said that even though the announcement had been made quickly, the wait had seemed like an eternity.

"It helped calm me down when he came on. They were terribly calm about it.

"He said: 'As you may be aware we have been hit by lightning, don't worry about it, it is perfectly safe. We are in contact with air traffic control and we are going to go back to Southampton to get the mechanics to check the plane.'"

After disembarking safely at Southampton, Ms Dempsey said she noticed that blue paintwork near a wing had turned white. "I presume the paint was oxidised," she added.

The lightning strike sparked a full-scale emergency alert with Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service sending four fire engines, a water carrier and a special equipment unit to the airport at 1.26pm. The plane landed safely at 1.52pm.

An airport spokeswoman confirmed that the plane had returned to Southampton as a precautionary measure for safety checks.

Customer service manager for British Regional Airlines, Martin McWilliam, said engineers would inspect the whole of the aircraft for entry and exit points.

He confirmed passengers would have been aware of the lightning strike.

"You will get a bang and it will be bright. You know something has happened. It is serious enough, but nothing too much to worry about," he explained.

Yesterday afternoon's Dublin service was cancelled after the aircraft's return to Southampton. Another plane was brought in from Manchester in the evening.