LILLE, FRANCE (AFP) - A group of drunk, dancing Scottish passengers caused such a commotion on a Ryanair flight from Glasgow to Ibiza that they forced the plane to make an emergency landing near Paris.

Police said on Wednesday that 16 Scots had been thrown off the plane at Beauvais airport north of the French capital on Tuesday evening and questioned by the authorities.

"They thought they had already arrived in Ibiza," a police spokesman said, explaining that after buying duty-free alcohol in Glasgow, they drank it on the plane and started dancing, causing such a ruckus that the pilot decided to divert to Beauvais.

The plane eventually took off again without the partying passengers, who were released in the early hours of Wednesday and directed to a Beauvais train station to go to Paris.

According to Beauvais airport management, the Ryanair crew has made an official complaint against the Scots, who could face charges at a later date.