Warwickshire Trading Standards look at holiday operator

[dutchman]

Warwickshire Trading Standards is looking into a Russian holiday operator after a group of people said they lost their £18,000 holiday.



Leamington Spa-based Russian Gateway upset the party of 11 after cancelling the flights and cruise at short notice.

Trading standards were contacted after it was discovered the operator's Atol number had expired and its Abta number was registered to another company.

Alan Steel, of Russian Gateway, said the group would receive a full refund.

A spokesman for Warwickshire Trading Standards said they were making inquiries of the business with a view to resolving matters.

'Disappointment and upset'

Carol Adams, from Gloucestershire, said she had booked the "holiday of a lifetime" for her family and friends to fly to St Petersburg and join a cruise to Moscow.

"You just can't imagine the disappointment, the upset and how fraught we've been all week trying to sort something out," she said on Friday.

An Abta spokesman said they had been in touch with the director of Russian Gateway who confirmed he would remove any reference to Abta from future correspondence.

"He was not able to come up with an explanation as to why he had done so in the past," added the spokesman.