Covid test firms have put their prices up by as much as £100 after the latest travel announcement made by the Government.
On Thursday, Grant Shapps confirmed that from July 19 fully vaccinated Brits will no longer need to isolate for 10 days when returning from amber list countries.
The announcement led to a 400% surge in airline bookings, with EasyJet adding over 145,000 extra seats for flights from the UK to Spain, Greece, Portugal, France, Italy, Croatia and Cyprus.
But as people rushed to travel websites to book their long-awaited summer break, they also noticed an increase in the price of mandatory Covid tests necessary to travel abroad.
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The Transport Secretary boasted on national radio that people could purchase tests for under £2.50 from providers approved by the Department of Health and Social Care.
Only a few hours later, some providers on the list put their prices up, with companies increasing the cost from £4.85 to £119, £4.99 to £119.99 and £7.50 to £155.
A firm that was offering tests from £1.99 on Friday morning, put the price up to £117.99 by the afternoon, The Telegraph reports.
An investigation carried out by the newspaper also found that of the cheapest 19 test providers listed by the DHSC, most firms were making false claims that tests could be bought from as low as £1.99 to £19.99.
But when customers visited their websites to buy a test, the price was significantly higher.
A company offered tests for £1.99, when the actual price of two tests was £250.
Most of the cheapest providers also received numerous negative reviews, with travellers claiming they never received their tests or their results despite paying expensive fees.
Another person claimed to have only received two tests despite ordering six.
A customer wrote on Trustpilot : "The UK Government website is a joke letting these scams get away with hard-earned people's money."
It comes as airlines have been told they are responsible for ensuring customers have the right documentation to travel, with the risk of a £2,000 fine for every case in which the correct procedure is not followed.
As more people plan to travel abroad following Mr Shapps' announcement, sources have warned of queues of up to six hours at airports.
A Whitehall source claimed Border Force is "nowhere near ready" to cope with the latest changes, the Daily Mail reports.
The insider said: "You could easily be looking at queues of six hours to start with.
"The Border Force is nowhere near ready. What no-one knows is how much extra traffic there will be as a result of the change."
Yesterday, Malta's Health Minister Chris Fearne announced the country will ban all visitors unless they are fully vaccinated against Covid-19.
"We will be the first EU country to do so, but we need to protect our society," he told a news conference.
He made the announcement after the small Mediterranean island saw a doubling of new cases of Covid-19 every day since Monday.
