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Bristol Post
Bristol Post
World
Emma Grimshaw

Single mum cant afford £300 flight 'stuck' after Thomas Cook collapse

A single mum is  "stuck" in Tunisia and cannot return home following Thomas Cook's collapse last month.

Julie Paige was due to land back on UK soil on Tuesday but is now stranded in the north African country until she finds a way back.

Ms Paige, a nurse, says she does not have enough money to pay  the £300 cost for a replacement flight with a different airline.

"I had a flight booked with Thomas Cook to return back to the UK on 8 October which no longer exists," she told the BBC.

Her journey was not Air Travel Organisers Licence (ATOL) protected because the scheme covers package holidays and not flight-only deals.

A Thomas Cook aircraft at Manchester Airport (Getty Images)

Ms Paige will have to fork out £300 for a new journey - a sum she says she cannot afford, according to the Mirror.

She said: "It's nearly 900 Tunisian dinar. I haven't got £300 for another flight.

"I'm stuck. I just didn't expect this to happen. I live month to month as a single parent and I have no spare money. I don't know what to do. When you haven't got any money, you haven't got any options."

Ms Paige's flight falls outside the two-week repatriation scheme by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) which operated flights to get 140,000 stranded tourists home.

Thomas Cook refund scam: How to protect yourself

Thousands of British holidaymakers were left without flights home after a last-minute deal to save the stricken company fell through on September 23.

This included Bristol couple Lisa and Anthony Brown, who ended up in the wrong airport three days late. And Mark Walker, from Bristol, who was left stranded in Skiathos for days.

The final CAA flight - from Orlando to Manchester with 392 passengers onboard - landed in the UK on Monday and those still stuck abroad will have to arrange their own way back.

The CAA said 94 per cent  of people have flown back on the original days of their cancelled Thomas Cook flight.

The e CAA said people without ATOL protection due to return after October 7 could return earlier on a repatriation flight if there was availability.

The organisation has urged people to turn to their travel insurance, their bank or the Foreign Office if they still need assistance getting back to the UK.

It has now launched the online form to  process Thomas Cook ATOL refund  which could see 360,000 booking refund claims for 800,000 people involved.

For the latest news in and around Bristol, check back on Bristol Live's homepage.

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