COPS have been slammed for failing to take action after an elderly widow who was called an "ugly black b******" in a sick racist rant on a Ryanair flight.

Twitter users hit out at Essex Police after Delsie Gayle, 77, said she hadn't been able to eat or sleep since being abused by a fellow passenger - with cabin crew insisting she be the one to move.

One user fumed: "Why isn't the useless @EssexPoliceUK bothered to arrest him?"

Another raged: "Don't understand why he was allowed to fly, why the police didn't arrest him, why that woman was moved and not him".

A third blasted: "Why weren't the police called to remove and arrest this nasty racist?"

Fighting back tears as she spoke to ITV, the Mrs Gayle said: "I feel very low. He paid a fare to go on holiday, I've paid mine so why does he abuse me for that due to the colour of my skin?"

She added: "I travel a lot, I go to Canada...and no one has ever said those words to me."

Ms Gayle had been on her way home to London Stansted from a trip to Barcelona on Friday when she was abused by a fellow passenger on the plane.

And the elderly woman said she was frustrated with the reaction by Ryanair staff, saying: "He do it with me and he gets away, he'll do it to somebody else."

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In the video, the bully demands Mrs Gayle, 77, move before calling her an "ugly, black b******."

And Ms Gayle's daughter vowed she would never fly with the budget airline again after the plane staff demanded her elderly mum move seats, instead of the man responsible for the sick tirade.

She added police would have been called if the abuser had been black.

Instead, crew members could be seen moving Mrs Gayle, a pensioner from East London, to another seat as the man continues his disgusting rant.

Her daughter, 53, told the Huffington Post: "In a few weeks, it’ll be one year since my dad died and I took my mum away for a few days’ break.

“She’s been feeling really down and depressed, so I thought the trip would raise her spirits.

"The underlying reason behind the man’s abusive behaviour comes down to the fact that my mum is a black woman and he didn’t want her sitting next to him."

Mrs Gayle was a Windrush Generation migrant who moved to the UK from Jamaica in the 1960s .

Her daughter is now demanding her mother get an apology.

She added: "I know that if I was behaving like he was or any other black person, for that matter, police would’ve been called and we would’ve been kicked off of the flight.

“Mum’s really feeling upset and very stressed about this situation, on top of the grief that she’s already experiencing.

“We will never fly with Ryanair again.”

The family have complained, but says Ryanair staff denied hearing racial slurs.

Ryanair has commented on the incident, saying: "We are aware of this video and have reported this matter to Essex Police.”

Jeremy Vine is among the celebs calling for action.

He tweeted: "If this is Ryanair, they need to explain how this man's disgusting racial abuse of the black lady in the seat next to him ends up with HER being asked to move. It is beyond belief."

Tens of thousands of people have viewed the row on flight FR9015 on Friday afternoon.

Essex Police said: "This incident, which we were made aware of this morning, is believed to have taken place on a plane at Barcelona Airport.

"Essex Police takes prejudice-based crime seriously and we want all incidents to be reported. We are working closely with Ryanair and the Spanish authorities on the investigation."