AIR traffic controllers sounded the alarm on cost-cutting yesterday following an IT collapse that left planes unable to enter British airspace, take off or land.

Safety chiefs launched an official probe yesterday into Friday’s meltdown — branded a mere “glitch” by bosses — that came almost a year to the day after a 2013 systems freeze.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has set up an independent investigation into the incident that will look at the “level of resilience” in Britain’s air traffic systems, run by part-privatised Nats.