ALCESTER Mayor Chris Gough had a nasty shock on his way to the airport when he learned the travel company which had sold him his airline tickets, Golden Sun, had gone bankrupt.

Mr Gough and his wife, Anne, were on a coach heading for Gatwick and their holiday destination Cyprus when they heard the news.

The couple had already delayed their holiday to allow them to attend the funeral of a close friend and it looked for a while as if they were never going to take off.

"We had two choices - either turn round and come home, which for me wasn't an option, or go to Gatwick and try to re-buy our flights.

"When we arrived at Gatwick we went to the Golden Sun desk and we were re-directed to another desk where we could re-buy our own tickets.

"We handed over our credit card only to find that they would only take cash.

"How many people on their way to Cyprus will have a pocketful of English currency?"

Mr and Mrs Gough exchanged some of their holiday currency and with what they did have in their pockets were able to pay the £260 for the flights.

"At least we only had to re-buy our flights because the hotel had been on our original booking with a different company.

"What was really sad was there were mums and dads with children who lost whole holidays and were expected to pay again to go to their destination or go back home and not have a holiday.

"If I was to give advice to someone in that situation I would say if they can afford to buy the flights carry on to the airport, because the plane will still be there."

As the company was ABTA protected the couple can expect a refund, though it may take several months.