Pilots from Ryanair have spoken exclusively to ITV News about being under pressure to carry less fuel on flights.

The airline wants its planes to carry as little fuel above the legal minimum as possible to save money.

The process of limiting the amount of fuel on a flight is one of the ways low-cost airlines are able to secure cheap fares for their customers.

Pilots do have the discretion to carry more fuel - but it is this added extra that Ryanair are trying to limit.

The airline even runs a fuel league table and pilots who fall in the bottom 20 per cent are sent a letter and a note is placed in their personal file.

Ryanair do have a right to control the amount of fuel pilots carry with them and isn't breaking any rules or regulations.

But some of their staff feel that their personal control over the welfare of the aircraft and its passengers is being eroded.

One pilot, who wished to remain anonymous, said: "The implication the pilots feel is that they'll be in trouble. They're under pressure to take as little above the legal limit as they can."

And another said: "If it's your family, your mother and father or your kids flying in the back of an aircraft on a wet and windy night are you worried about the price of your ticket? - no you're worried about getting home safely."

But Ryanair have a very good safety record and say it is not in its interest to compromise this.

Ryanair's chief executive, Michael O'Leary, said: "It's very tightly controlled. We calculate the fuel required for every flight. We allow pilots to take a diversionary amount of fuel, safety contingency fuel but there are no requirements for pilots on short haul flights to take any more fuel.

"When oil is US$130 a barrel, our passengers want low fares and we give them low fares by not wasting fuel and our policies are designed to minimise waste, nothing more - nothing less."