Couple's Christmas holiday ruined

FOR a Bexhill couple the term "Merry Christmas" strikes a sour note. Roger and Fliss Siggery (seen below) were packed and ready to leave for an idyllic seven days in snow-covered Austria when a friend phoned last Friday evening.

"He said 'Are you sitting down? This is not a joke....'" said Roger.

And it wasn't a joke.

The Siggerys and their friend were among thousand of victims nationwide when tour organisers Travelscope announced they were going into administration.

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Roger said: "We booked through the Observer. We had been to Germany last year and enjoyed it so much. We thought Austria at Christmas would be even better.

"We were going to Innsbruck and Mayerhofen. We were doing to do all the excursions. We had even booked a sleigh ride - they say the snow there is very good this year."

The party had been due to fly to Austria at 5.30am on Saturday. Instead the couple spent Saturday morning unpacking and preparing to spend Christmas in the UK

Roger said: "Our friend was coming with us. He phoned at about eight - they were ringing round in alphabetical order and he had just been told.

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"Later we got a call from a nice girl from Travelscope. She was pretty distressed. We have lost our holiday but they have all lost their jobs.

"I felt sorry for her. People get so irate and it's not her fault. "We have been on the website and checked. It looks as if we will get our money back because they were ABTA bonded.

"I don't know what we will do now. We will probably spend Boxing Day here - Fliss is all organised - but we may go to London or do something in the UK."