BBC gaffe shows Theresa May travelling to Brussels in a World War II plane

The News at Six footage of planes flying over Biggin Hill airbase was shown as Sophie Raworth talked about the PM’s trip.

The section had been meant to be accompanied by footage of May.

But the error meant planes over the air base were shown instead, suggesting May was bizarrely travelling to the Belgian capital in a fleet of RAF bombers.

Raworth told viewers: ‘Theresa May says she intends to go back to Brussels to negotiate her Brexit deal but EU leaders say the deal is done and they will not reopen talks.’

The EU has said it will reject any change to May’s withdrawal agreement in time for a crucial vote in two weeks.

Paul Royall, who edits the BBC’s News at Six, said on Twitter the clips had been intended to tease a later story about the airbase.

He joked he was ‘pretty sure’ May was not travelling to Europe via decades-old warcraft.

Royall said: ‘For those wondering – simple human error at end of #BBCNewsSix.

‘A production mistake meant pictures used earlier to tease story about Biggin Hill ended up in our top story recap at close of show.

‘If and when it happens pretty certain PM not travelling to Brussels like this.’

Biggin Hill, best known for its role in the Battle of Britain, served as one of the vital WWII command bases for the Hurricanes and Spitfires of RAF Fighter Command protecting the south-east of England.