A Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) flight made an emergency landing after a mouse scurried out of a passenger's meal box on Wednesday.

According to the BBC the aircraft was flying from Oslo to Malaga and was made the emergency landing in Copenhagen, Denmark.

SAS said that the diversion was in line with company procedures as the mouse posed a safety risk.

Airline spokesperson Oystein Schmidt told the AFP news agency that the passengers were flown to Malaga on a different aircraft.

All airlines have strict restrictions involving rodents as they chew electrical wiring which is a safety risk.

"This is something that happens extremely rarely," Mr Schmidt said.

"We have established procedures for such situations, which also include a review with our suppliers to ensure this does not happen again."

BBC News Channel interviewed passenger Jarle Borrestad who told the news channel that the mouse escaped from the box of food that the woman sat next to him on the flight was opening.

Mr Borrestad said the situation was very calm but he did put his socks over his trousers so the mouse did not crawl up his legs.