Devastated holidaymakers say they have lost thousands of pounds after budget holiday group lowcostholidays went bust.

Company bosses say they had made ‘exhaustive attempts’ to rescue the group but were hampered by ‘the recent and ongoing turbulent financial environment’.

Around 27,000 customers are currently in resorts while 110,000 are yet to travel.

Jo Plant, from Reddish, in Stockport, was planning the holiday of a lifetime to New York to celebrate her mum’s 70th birthday.

The 33-year-old said she was devastated after finding out she had lost £1,400 on the four-night stay and has since had to break the news to her mum Edna, who has always dreamed of a trip to New York.

She said: “I have heard nothing from the company. I only found out about it on Twitter last night. When you go on the company’s home page it just says it has ceased trading.

“I was devastated. The site suggests that your flights will be okay but your accommodation won’t be. However I checked with both airlines and neither of the flights have been paid for.

“My mum had been really looking forward to it. She has always wanted to go to New York.

“Unfortunately I paid for it on my debit card so I definitely won’t get the money back.”

Jo also forked out £2,800 for a two-week holiday to Mexico with her boyfriend Daniel, 34, in September and fears she will not be able to recoup the money.

She said: “I don’t hold out any hope that they will get back to me.”

Janet and Jim Wynn, from Rochdale, were due to jet off to the Egyptian beach resort of Hurghada for two weeks in September after paying £1,460 for the holiday.

Hurghada in Egypt

Janet said she received an email from lowcostholidays at 10.15pm on Friday night telling her about the administration.

Though the Thomas Cook flights are safe she has lost the hotel and transfer booking. They have since booked another holiday ‘before prices soar’.

She said: “Everybody is in the same boat - it’s awful.

“The email was very vague. We’ve had to stick our necks out and rebook.”

Angie Reilly is currently at a resort in Gran Canaria after booking with the travel company and says the atmosphere is ‘crazy’.

She said: “No one knows what’s happening, the poor hotel receptionist is having to tell people to pay again or they have to leave. The list of names is growing by the hour.

“My flights home are apparently safe but we can’t get through to Thomas Cook to check. Transfers to the airport - no one can tell us yet if they are paid for or if we need to rebook. Almost everyone in the hotel booked with them.

“It’s bad for us but at least we are here. I feel for the people due to travel.”

Thousands of holidaymakers have been affected by the changes - many have told their stories to the M.E.N. Here are few of their first-hand accounts:

'This is disgusting'

Kevin Jones says he is devastated after booking a holiday with lowcostholidays back in January when they paid £1,200 in full. He has since been told by EasyJet that their flights had not be booked.

He said: “This is disgusting. We were going for a wedding as well which she is bridesmaid for and my daughter a flower girl. Just priced another holiday up now and its going to cost in the region of £1,600 just for 7 nights. We were going for 11 originally.

“Also my partner rang on Thursday to book transfers and they took the money knowing what was happening which was another £30. We cant believe this.”

Could lose £3,000

Daryl Wheatcroft booked a holiday for six adults with lowcostholidays last July hoping to fly off this August.

He said his booking has transfer and hotel bookings will be cancelled and he may need to fork out just short of £1,000 for a 10-night stay. He fears that he will lose the £3,000 be has already paid for the holiday.

'Not a good start to our wedding anniversary trip'

John and Sue Campbell arrived in Berlin on Saturday after booking flights directly with Ryanair. But when they tried to check into their hotel they were told the booking had been cancelled due to the collapse of lowcostholidays.

The couple had already paid £291 for three nights at the hotel but were told they would need to pay 600 Euros to secure the room.

John told the M.E.N: “We had little choice but to pay or find alternative accommodation. Not the hotels fault at all. Shame on lowcostholidays for not even sending out emails warning of the issue. Not a good start to our wedding anniversary trip that could end up costing a total of £800+ for 3 nights if we don’t get compensation.”

'Money is completely lost'

Nicola Delderfield was due to fly to Majorca in August with lowcostholidays but received a text on Saturday to say the company had gone into administration and she would not receive a refund.

She told the M.E.N: “You spend your whole year saving for this one holiday and your money is completely lost.

“We called the hotel and they had our booking but no payment they advised us to call the head office and see what the charge would be for the rooms for that week, so meaning we have to pay for the holiday again.

"Very disappointed and upset that this has happened, and I know there are thousands of others in the same situation.”

'They knew this was coming but did not care'

Jamie Fisher had a holiday to Florida booked for August but discovered his hotel booking had been cancelled after trying to track his travel details online on Friday night. American Airlines have told him his flights have been paid for but Jamie said the cancellation has caused a huge amount of stress.

He wrote: “I think it’s disgusting that they have left people like this and after taking my money they are still costing me money because they do not provide anyone to speak to.

“I just feel so upset and stressed, I’ve been looking forward to this holiday all year and now I just feel so rubbish. Why should I work hard and have to feel stressed. The company obviously knew this was coming but did not care. I have received nothing from lowcostholidays.”