Some people missed flights in the confusion as passengers crowded around boards filled with handwritten flight numbers and departure times.

The problem emerged in the early hours of Monday morning and was not fully rectified until around 5pm.

August is one of the busiest periods of the year for the West Sussex airport as many families embark on summer holidays.

Gatwick said the electronic boards were displaying incorrect information because of a damaged fibre-optic cable.

A spokesman said: "The airport's manual contingency plan - which included displaying information manually in the terminals and having extra staff on hand to help direct passengers - worked well and tens of thousands of passengers departed on time and no flights were cancelled.

"Gatwick would like to apologise to any passengers who were inconvenienced by this issue."

He added that a "handful of people have missed their flights" as a result.

Ayla Herbert, 26, from Penryn, Cornwall, said some passengers became agitated and yelled for more boards as the crowd grew "larger and larger".

"The guys did well keeping everyone updated, but it was hard to see if you weren't close to the board. They used megaphones to tell everyone of updated information," she added.

Australian Associated Press