BUILDER Mark Nadin bought toy guns for his sons on a Spanish holiday – then sparked an airport security alert when he tried to bring them home on the plane.

Mr Nadin, 48, and wife Karen, 41, flew from Bristol to Valencia in Spain for a two-week holiday.

While enjoying the family break he bought two replica guns for his sons, Edward, six, and Oliver, 10.

But trouble flared as the foursome prepared to fly home.

Mr Nadin had packed one of the replicas in a suitcase, and put the smaller ‘weapon’ in his hand luggage, creating a security alert at the X-ray machine and delaying the UK flight for 45 minutes.

The dad-of-two explained: “The boys saw the toy guns in a shop and asked me if I could buy them so I said okay. They cost about 16 Euros, or £12.

“One of them was a replica Winchester rifle while the other was a replica handgun, a pistol.

“They were both made of metal and the pistol looked particularly realistic.

“I put the rifle in the suitcase because it was too big to go in the hand luggage, and checked in the suitcase so it would be loaded onto the flight.

“I put the pistol in the hand luggage to go on the plane, but when the hand luggage went through the X-ray machine I was called over by the security staff and they asked me to explain what was going on.”

Mr Nadin, of Radley Road, Abingdon, added: “I tried to explain that the gun was just a toy but they would not listen and confiscated the pistol.”

Mr Nadin said he and his family then went for a meal in the departure lounge as they had a two-hour wait for their flight.

But as they arrived at the gate for their easyJet flight, Mr Nadin underwent a further interrogation by airport security officials and the Spanish police.

He added: “My wife was told to take the boys on the plane but I had to stay behind.

“I was taken to a room in a different part of the airport where the police were waiting for me. At that point, they brought in my suitcase with the toy rifle in it and I had to reassure them that it was only a toy. Their X-ray machines must have picked it up.

“The police then allowed me to pack it back into the suitcase, which was loaded onto the plane.

“The take-off was delayed about 45 minutes, so when I got on the plane I was getting a few nasty looks from the other passengers. I wasn’t very popular.”

Mr Nadin advised other parents to think twice before trying to take toy guns on a flight.

He said: “Looking back on it, I suppose I was a bit silly not to realise what was going to happen. When I was a kid I used to play with cap guns all the time, so I didn’t think it would do any harm.”