A victim of the collapse of holiday company XL Leisure Group has asked for the matter to be raised in the House of Commons.

Ted Hamer, of Shalloak Road, Broad Oak, has written to Canterbury and Whitstable MP Julian Brazier requesting him to take up the matter.

Mr Hamer believes some form of insurance policy should protect travellers from falling foul of unstable tour operators.

His wife, Diane, was at Gatwick Airport queuing for a flight to see their daughter in Greece when her holiday dream collapsed.

Mr Hamer had bought the £245 ticket for his wife to celebrate her 62nd birthday.

But instead of boarding the plane to Mykonos on Friday to visit daughter Donna Skaropoulou, she was handed a statement informing her that the airline had collapsed.

Mr Hamer, 65, an adult education teacher, said: “When I checked at midnight, the XL website was telling us that the flights were running.

“We joined the check-in queue at 3am but within minutes we could see there were problems.

“The statement put out by the receivers made it clear we had lost our money.

"Later, our daughter phoned to see whether Diane had caught the flight and I had to break the news that my wife had not travelled.

“We don’t see our daughter that often, and I suppose we won’t see her for another year after this.”

Mr Hamer will not get his money back. He booked the ticket online and paid with a debit card.

“Several lessons emerge from this debacle,” he said. “Always get travel insurance; don’t book online with budget airlines; think before you spend.”

•Are you a victim of the XL collapse? If so, email us at kentishgazette@thekmgroup.co.uk or call 01227 475985.