A busy Italian airport as been partially evacuated after a man set fire to a check-in area.

Video footage posted on social media shows chaotic scenes inside Terminal 1 of Milan’s Malpensa airport as a fire rages at one of the desks while a man attacks digital screens before being detained.

A man has been arrested and the situation brought under control, according to the Lombardy Airports Association.

However, it warned of potential delays and cancellations to departures at the bustling tourist hub popular with Brits.

No injuries have been reported so far, according to the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.

The incident happened around 11:00 local time (09:00 GMT), the paper said, with emergency services alerted to reports of an “agitated man” in the terminal.

In video posted to social media, large flames can be seen rising from a check-in desk as a number of startled passengers look on. Cries of alarm are audible.

The camera pans across to then show a man attacking overhead digital screens with what appears to be a blunt object.

He is eventually challenged by several people, before being pinned to the ground.

Pictures from the airport show huge queues of passengers waiting outside the terminal building as smoke fills the air inside.