A passenger who left a bag unattended at Birmingham International airport, causing a massive security alert, has been jailed.

The Daily Telegraph reports that 25-year-old Jose da Silva, has been imprisoned for 10 days for creating a public nuisance.

The newspaper reports that da Silva, a plumber, was waiting for a flight to Portugal when he left his bag unattended to go outside for a cigarette. After his bag was spotted, the airport was closed for three hours while 1,000 passengers and staff were evacuated – and three incoming flights had to be diverted.

The prison sentence is thought to be the first for an offence that appears to have been committed unintentionally – da Silva reportedly said he had no intention of causing such an alert.

The Telegraph quotes a spokesman from the airport as saying: “This was an example of the sort of thing that can happen and how it escalates very quickly. We take these things very seriously and this was a serious security issue. The sentence reflects that and we would reiterate the dangers of leaving luggage unattended.”

The bag reportedly contained a teddy bear, some fruit and clothes