A man has died after two airport vehicles crashed at Heathrow.

The victim, aged in his 40s, was taken to a west London hospital but could not be saved, the Metropolitan Police said.

Another male suffered a suspected broken shoulder in the crash, which happened on the airfield shortly after 6am on Wednesday.

At least 20 British Airways flights from Terminal 5 were delayed and passengers were ordered to leave an aircraft which was unable to take off because of the incident.

A Heathrow spokeswoman said: “We are dealing with a serious accident involving two vehicles on the airfield.

One of the vehicles involved in the crash at Heathrow Airport
One of the vehicles involved in the crash at Heathrow Airport (Steve Parsons/PA)

“We are working closely with the emergency services and updates will follow.

“The airfield remains open and we will work to minimise disruption to our passengers’ journeys.

“We apologise for any inconvenience caused.”

The Health and Safety Executive was informed and officers from the Met’s serious collision investigation unit went to the scene.

The Health and Safety Executive is investigating
The Health and Safety Executive is investigating (Steve Parsons/PA)

No arrests were made.

A British Airways spokeswoman said: “We have apologised to customers for the delay to a small number of our flights this morning, following a serious incident involving two operational vehicles at the airport.

“We are doing all we can to ensure they will be able to depart as soon as possible.”