Around 200 holidaymakers who flew from Kent International Airport were left stranded when their travel firm collapsed.

Seguro Holidays, a company founded in Edenbridge, Kent, in 1991, and operated holidays under the Kent Escapes brand, went into administration on Wednesday.

Matt Clark, CEO of Kent International Airport, in Thanet, said: "Naturally we are very disappointed by this development as Kent Escapes has been a successful operator here, where they have built a very loyal customer base over the last three years.

"It is unfortunate that Kent Escapes and their passengers have suffered due to circumstances beyond their control.

"All other services at Kent International Airport remain unaffected and the demand for charter holidays from the airport remains strong."

Seguro ran holidays from KIA and Glasgow Prestwick to Majorca, the Algarve, Benidorm, Costa Brava, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Tenerife.

Bosses blamed the collapse on the demise of Majorca-based Futura International Airways which operated most of Seguro’s holiday flights. Futura in turn blamed high fuel costs.

Serguro's directors Rachel Elliott and Richard Burke, have issued a statement, which states:"Futura’s collapse was totally unexpected as an airline with over 30 planes, having a good reputation and being one of Spain’s respected airlines."

Thee holidays are ATOL bonded and protected and passengers will be flown home by alernative airlines.

Passengers who have yet to take their holiday will be able to obtain a refund through the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) or their credit card company.

The CAA is advising passengers not to travel to their departure airport but to follow the ATOL claim process which can be accessed through the CAA website.

Holidays booked through the KM Group’s travel business, Headline Travel, are operating normally.

The collapse of Seguro is another blow to KIA at Manston. The airport has already suffered the demise of EUjet which left many thousands of passenger stranded across Europe and led to the sale of the airport to New Zealand firm Infratil.

Plans by Cosmos to operate direct flight to Norfolk, Virginia, were aborted early last year because of the low level of bookings.

Seguro opened a Macclesfield office in 1997 and began operating out of Glasgow Prestwick airport a year later.