The unidentified body of a black male was found in the wheel bay of a jet operated by Tui Airways - a British charter airline - that had flown from Gambia's capital of Banjul to London's Gatwick Airport, Gambia's government spokesman said in a statement on Tuesday.

Sussex Police said the body was discovered at Gatwick around 4am on 7 December.

In a statement, the force said: "Police were called after the body of a man was found in the undercarriage of an aircraft at Gatwick Airport, arriving from Gambia, at about 4am on December 7.

"Officers are investigating and a report will be prepared for HM Coroner."

Tui said it would not comment as the incident was being handled by the police.

It is not the first time the bodies of stowaways have been found on planes.

In 2015, Dutch authorities discovered a body in the landing gear of a plane from Africa in Amsterdam's Schiphol airport.

In 2019, a stowaway reportedly fell from a Heathrow plane and landed next to sunbather in Clapham, south London.

The body is believed to have fallen from the undercarriage of a Kenya Airways flight that left from Nairobi.

Meanwhile, in November, three stowaways were found alive on a ship's rudder in the Canary Islands after an 11-day sea voyage from Nigeria.