Brits stuck in Bali as volcano blows

HUNDREDS of British tourists were trapped in Bali last night as the island’s volcano threatened to erupt.

The airport was forced to close as Mount Agung rumbled and sent smoke and ash billowing into the sky.

Some 1,100 were killed last time the 10,000ft volcano erupted in 1963.

Yesterday authorities raised the alert on the Indonesian island to the highest level and ordered 100,000 people within six miles of the mountain to evacuate.

More than 440 flights were cancelled to and from Bali, stranding nearly 60,000. Ash poses a danger to aircraft as it melts within the jet engine and blocks it.

An Indonesian spokesman said lava ‘will certainly spill over to the slopes’.

About 300,000 Britons travel to Bali every year. A Foreign Office spokesman encouraged tourists to follow the advice of local authorities.