The crew were caught on CCTV images issued by police (Picture: Brazil Police)

British Airways crew members claimed they were mugged in Brazil to cover up a night of debauchery police say.

The incident involving two men, aged 31 and 40, and a woman aged 39, allegedly led flight BA248 from Rio to London to be cancelled in September.

But a BA representative said the crew members were not due to operate the flight the next day as alleged.

The trio were part of a group of six employees who went out to Rio’s Pedra do Sal port area.

Half the group returned to their hotel while the other three stayed out until the early hours.

The female employee and the younger of the two men claimed they were robbed of their phones after being duped by a taxi driver who was supposed to take them back to their hotel.

They claim he instead drove them to a petrol station which is closed and used by drug dealers according to police.

The suspects will be interviewed by Patricia Alemany the head of a special police unit for tourist support called the DEAT.

She says CCTV images show the younger BA air steward appearing to stagger around at 4am as he gets up from a plastic table on the pavement.

British Airways said the crew were not operating the delayed flight (Picture: PA)

He then heads with his female colleague and a local where a witness said they carried on drinking ‘for several more hours’.

The older of the two BA employees reportedly became separated from the other two and is said to have confessed to medical staff he drank alcohol and took drugs with two women he met before giving a ‘false’ police statement.

He was found unconscious while an ambulance and police were called but he came around and witnesses showed police a ‘line of white powder’.

The older man also told police he thought his drink had been spiked and remembers nothing after this.

But a doctor who treated him told police there were ‘no spiking signs’ and said he had consumed ‘alcohol and cocaine’.

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Assistant police chief Danielle Bullus said: ‘The investigation shows they haven’t told the truth.

‘They didn’t say the incident occurred in the early hours of September 5.

‘They probably created these stories to try to justify their inadequate behaviour which breached company rules.’

But she did add: ‘We did discover there was a robbery of a mobile belonging to the two people who were in Vaz Lobo.’

Patricia Alemany said: ‘What is surprising is how an air crew that has such an important role can spend the night drinking and using drugs, knowing that the next day they would have responsibility for taking care of dozens of people who would be travelling for hours.’

British Airways said in a statement: ‘This is a matter for the police.’

The airline has been contacted for further comment by Metro.

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They originally claimed they were duped by a taxi driver.