A town councillor from Hertfordshire says a British Airways flight to Dubai was forced to return to London due to a foul odour emanating from an overflowing toilet . Hertsmere councillor Abhishek Sachdev , who represents Potters Bar Parkfield , said the seven-hour flight was aborted ‘ because of a smelly poo in the toilet ’ . Cabin crew were unable to fix the problem and the smell became unbearable for passengers seated nearby , forcing the plane to turn around near Brussels and land at Heathrow Airport . A British Airways captain told passengers the smell was from 'liquid faecal excrement ' in a toilet . Mr Sachdev , a Tory councillor , said the flight departed on time Thursday night and everything seemed fine until the captain made an announcement about 30 minutes after take-off . He told MailOnline Travel : ‘ The pilot made an announcement requesting senior cabin crew , and we knew something was a bit odd . ‘ About 10 minutes later he said you may have noticed there ’ s a quite pungent smell coming from one of the toilets . ‘ He said it was liquid faecal excrement , those are the words he used . He said it ’ s not a technical fault with the plane , and he was very adamant about that. ’ Hertsmere councillor Abhishek Sachdev said passengers were told that crew could not fix the problem . The captain informed passengers that the plane ’ s crew had examined the problem , but were unable to fix it . He told them that the plane would be forced to return to London for health and safety reasons . Passengers were initially told that they would board another flight in three hours , but it turned into a 15-hour delay , said Mr Sachdev , who was travelling with his pregnant wife , Rupa , and their two-year-old daughter , Shravani . He said the airline offered an apology and provided hotel accommodation and food vouchers , but claimed BA ground staff were unprepared and told the travellers to contact the Civil Aviation Authority for compensation . Tory councillor Abhishek Sachdev was travelling with his pregnant wife and their two-year-old daughter . Mr Sachdev , who wasn ’ t seated near the toilet in question , said passengers departed for Dubai yesterday at 1pm . He said : ‘ It ’ s obviously disappointing to lose a whole day of your trip . You might expect it on some random airline , but you wouldn ’ t expect it from British Airways. ’ After the plane landed at Heathrow , the councillor tweeted : ‘ Insane ! Our BA flight to Dubai returned back to Heathrow because of a smelly poo in the toilet ! 15hrs until next flight/ ’ A British Airways spokesperson told MailOnline Travel : 'We 're very sorry for the discomfort to our customers . ​ . 'We provided them with hotel accommodation and rescheduled the flight to depart the next day . '
Captain informed passengers the smell was from 'liquid faecal excrement ' Plane returned to London seven-hour after take-off . Passenger Abhishek Sachdev said crew had health and safety concerns . Travellers were put up in hotel rooms and offered food vouchers .