US actress Winona Ryder was taken to hospital near London`s Heathrow Airport on Wednesday after falling ill on a flight from Los Angeles, hospital and airline spokesmen said.

`The captain of BA282, which was travelling from LA to Heathrow, requested a priority landing as a female passenger required medical attention,` said a spokesman for British Airways.

`The passenger was taken to a local hospital for treatment. The plane touched down shortly before noon UK time,` added the spokesman, saying cabin crew looked after her while on board.

A spokesman for Hillingdon Hospital in Uxbridge, near Heathrow in west London, said the 37-year-old Ryder was treated by doctors immediately on landing, but gave no more immediate details.

Ryder is well known for films including `Little Women,` `Edward Scissorhands`, with former boyfriend Johnny Depp, `Age of Innocence,` and `Girl, Interrupted`, and hit the headlines for shoplifting in Saks Fifth Avenue in December 2001 since when she has been largely out of the spotlight.