A little girl battling a rare form of cancer is "gutted" after a con artist allegedly scammed her family out of a £1,700 holiday to Butlin's.
Skye Brierley, six, was looking forward to the treat after her family contacted a man whom claimed to own two static caravans at the holiday park.
The brave youngster has just finished treatment for Embryonal Rhabdomyosarcoma which caused a "fist-sized" brain tumour.
But mum Ruth, 44, claims the "owner" of the caravans has disappeared with the £1,700 she and a family member transferred him. He has allegedly been uncontactable since.
"How much bad luck can one family have? When I realised we had been scammed, I was absolutely distraught," mum-of-three Ruth, from Blackpool, Lancashire, said.
"Skye is absolutely gutted too.
"I think it is absolutely disgusting, it's the fact that he has done it to a little who has been fighting cancer.
"You see it happening to other people, you don't expect it to happen to you."
The family wanted to treat Skye to the weekend in Skegness, Lincolnshire, in August. Ruth said they visited the same site in 2017, booking it legitimately from the same owners.
They visited but Skye's cancer was discovered soon afterwards, when she woke cross-eyed one morning.
She had to travel to Florida last year for proton beam therapy after battling nine rounds of chemo in the UK.
The Butlin's trip would have been the family's first holiday since Skye's health improved as her condition had hindered their ability to travel.
Ruth, also mother to Damien, 10, Kira, 15, alleged she made multiple attempts to contact the "owner" since but been unable to talk to him.
A spokesman for the City of London Police said: "The case is currently being assessed by the City of London Police's National Fraud Intelligence Bureau."
When approached, the owner of the caravan said he himself had been the victim of a scam - something he said Lincolnshire Police are currently investigating.
He denied taking money from Ruth knowing the caravan was no longer his, and said Action Fraud were also involved in investigating the money he had lost.
The man said: "We have been scammed - we took several holiday bookings in good faith."
Butlins and Lincolnshire Police have now been approached for comment.
Skye's family are now fundraising on GoFundMe for a new holiday.
