Passengers flying into Britain on Saturday faced delays at passport control as e-gate systems across the country went down, according to British media.

The service disruption affected those arriving at airports such as Heathrow and Gatwick in London, and Manchester.

The malfunction meant that people flying in had to get their passports checked manually.

The British Home Office confirmed the incident, but did not say how long the fault would last.

The authorities say they have been working with airlines and port operators to “minimise disruption for travellers”.

Heathrow Airport confirmed the incident on Twitter, saying the disruption is ongoing.

The airport apologised for the inconvenience, and said its teams are working to “help resolve the problem as quickly as possible”.

“We have additional colleagues on hand to manage queues and provide passenger welfare,” it said on Twitter.

Some travellers posted photos of long lines while waiting to use manned passport desks.

On social media, reactions to the disruption have varied as the day progressed, with one person earlier saying passengers from his flight were not allowed to disembark more than an hour after landing.

However, another traveller said she has never gotten through passport control “as fast as I just did at Heathrow T3”.

A traveller, who uses the handle @cookma on Twitter, said the e-gates at Heathrow’s T5 are working again, and that it took him about 35 minutes “from leaving the plane to getting through passport control”.

The weekend was already expected to be a busy one for travellers due to a bank holiday coinciding with a school break.

The e-gate system, which uses facial recognition to verify a traveller’s identity, helps to speed up passport control by allowing some passengers to scan their own passports.

Singapore passport holders, along with visitors from countries such as Australia and Japan, are among those who can use the automated e-gates.

The delays at the British airports come after British Airways cancelled dozens of flights going through Heathrow airport over the course of Thursday and Friday, following a knock-on technical issue.

British airlines and airports have also faced other disruptions over the past year. These have included strikes involving airport staff as well as cancelled flights caused by staff shortages last summer.

Long queues also formed at Dover, a major port for ferries to France in the south-east of England. The problem there was due to IT issues at French passport control.

The Port of Dover later said on Twitter the technical issues were resolved, adding that the average waiting time was down to around 30 minutes to 45 minutes.

Earlier in the day, travellers had to wait around 90 minutes.