The man, whose rant was caught on camera by a fellow passenger and posted to social media, was later identified as 70-year-old David Mesher from Birmingham.

Mesher denied being a racist and said the incident, in which he verbally abused 79-year-old Delsie Gayle, was the result of a “fit of temper”.

The incident on October 19 last year happened while the aircraft was on the stand at Barcelona airport ahead of its return flight to Stansted. Ryanair referred the matter to Essex Police two days later.

However, Essex Police on Monday (February 25) said despite a “thorough investigation”, which included seeking advice from the Crown Prosecution Service, it was unable to proceed as the matter was outside its jurisdiction.

“Following disturbing footage on social media, we have completed a thorough investigation into reports a woman was subjected to racial verbal abuse on a stationary plane at Barcelona airport,” said the force in a statement.

“The incident took place on Friday October 19 last year and was reported to us when the victim returned to the UK. Although the offence did not happen within the jurisdiction of England or Wales, we conducted a thorough investigation and sought advice from the Crown Prosecution Service. They did not have the jurisdiction to advise on any charging decision.

“We have completed our enquiries as far as we are legally able to, given that the incident did not happen within our jurisdiction and are now in contact with the Spanish legal authorities so that they can determine how they wish to proceed.”