Two women will appear in court on Saturday after private jets were sprayed with orange paint at Stansted Airport.

Jennifer Kowalski, 28, of Dumbarton, and Cole Macdonald, 22, of Brighton, will appear at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court charged with criminal damage, aggravated trespass and interfering with national infrastructure.

Essex Police said more than £5,000 worth of damage had been caused in the incident.

Environmental group Just Stop Oil said activists had entered the airfield and used fire extinguishers filled with orange paint.

The police force said it detained two people on Thursday morning after they gained access to a private area of an airfield and were “causing damage to two aircraft”.

They confirmed the private jet of pop star Taylor Swift, which Just Stop Oil said had landed at Stansted “mere hours before”, was not at the airport.

Chief Superintendent Simon Anslow said: “I would like to reassure passengers and the wider public that we are well prepared and resourced to deal with incidents of this nature.

“Almost immediately after we were made aware of this incident, which took place away from the main passenger terminal, we were on the scene.

“We maintain a constant presence at the airport and this presence will be heightened over the summer period.

“We have a good working relationship with Stansted Airport to ensure you can go about your travels with minimal impact.

“We are not anti-protest but we will always take action where criminal acts take place.”

The airport and flights continued operating as normal on Thursday.