A Whitehaven man has told of his frustration after fighting for five weeks to try and recoup £1,700 that he spent on a Thomas Cook holiday.

Peter Rothery, 61, had booked a Thomas Cook package holiday to Turkey, only for the company to go bust three days before he and his wife Selina were due to fly out.

Mr Rothery booked the holiday in November 2018 but now faces a lengthy battle to recoup his cash.

He said he has battled conflicting information on whether he needed to take any action, after paying for the trip by direct debit.

He was initially told by the Civil Aviation Authority – the company which regulates UK travel companies – that holidays paid for by direct debit would be automatically refunded.

And he also received advice from his bank, the Halifax, that he need not take any further action.

But despite being given several dates when the money was to be refunded, he still had not received anything by October 31.

After contacting the Halifax again he was told their policy had changed and he would now have to fill in an online form.

Peter said: “It’s causing me unnecessary stress. We had a bad year last year and could have done without it all.”

The online form did not work either and he spent over an hour on the phone to CAA getting new codes as his booking reference number would not work.

He said: “When I tried to submit a form it said I had already submitted one yesterday. It’s absolutely ridiculous.”

He has been told he may have to wait a further 60 days before getting his money back.

Peter said: “I am totally stressed out with this, I am so frustrated. The stress was totally unnecessary.

He would like to make it clear that no local branches of Thomas Cook or Halifax were involved in this process. He was communicating with the Halifax’s head office.

He said: “They told me I wouldn’t have to do anything. I have had to. There has just been no liaison between CAA and Halifax. Halifax head office don’t want to know anymore. It has been a minefield, I just wish it was all over.”

Andrew McConnell, spokesperson for ATOL, said: “We appreciate the patience of Thomas Cook customers as we continue with the UK’s largest ever travel refund programme, impacting 800,000 people.

“Some consumers, including the one highlighted to us in this case, have a variety of complexities with their Thomas Cook booking, which have prevented us from processing an automatic direct debit refund.

“Such complexities can include amendments to bookings, and in this case the consumer had used several different methods to pay for their holiday which were changed during the payment process.

“We understand that this is a frustrating time as customers want to make new travel arrangements. All ATOL protected payments will be refunded, and we urge affected consumers to submit an online claim on our website, thomascook.caa.co.uk/refunds, if they have not done so already.”

A Halifax spokesman said: “We are committed to providing the highest standard of customer service and so were saddened to hear of Mr Rothery’s experience. We continue to investigate his case as a matter of urgency to ensure the right outcome is reached.”

Mr Rothery said he was told the initial deposit could be paid in cash and only cancelled his further direct debits after all the payments had been made in full.