A group of lads heading to Spain on their first holiday were devastated after finding out they'd been scammed out of thousands of pounds.
The teenagers were ready to fly from Newcastle International Airport to Magaluf on Monday to celebrate their friend's 18th birthday when they discovered their hotel accommodation hadn't been paid.
The 13 lads, from Chester-le-Street, County Durham, believed they had paid £12,500 to a third party travel representative who made a booking through Blue Sea Holidays for their flights and 10 nights all inclusive at a hotel.
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But Blue Sea Holidays was forced to cancel the accommodation on the day they were due to travel after only receiving a deposit for the holiday, with £9,000 outstanding.
With their flights paid, the group flew to the Spain but faced a scramble to find and pay for new accommodation.
Julie McMahon, whose son Billy Shield, 18, is on the holiday, said: "All the lads paid their money to someone and we’ve found out they did not pay the holiday company.
"This left them with with no accommodation or food as it was an all inclusive property.
"They only found this all out when it was confirmed a few hours before flying.
"My son is absolutely devastated. He is an apprentice and some are in college, or had parents and grandparents help them.
"They had all saved for the holiday and paid extra for all inclusive.
"There was a pool party with a DJ they were looking forward to. It is just awful for them."
Julie, 42, said they had found a new hotel but it was not close to where they were originally planning to stay.
She said: "It’s such a shame and feel so sad for them all, they have had to pay for another hotel nowhere near where they wanted but at least they are going."
Julie has now set up a fundraising campaign to help the lads recoup some of the money they lost.
She added: "If anyone has any spare pennies I will send them over to Billy for all the lads to share and hopefully take some of the stress this has caused away."
A spokesman for Blue Sea Holidays said: "All we did was take a deposit for a holiday and then cancel it when the balance wasn't paid.
"We did receive numerous promises of payment and we didn't cancel the hotel till the day of departure - the balance was due in April - as we wanted to believe the promises we were made and felt so sorry for the boys who must have been so looking forward to their trip.
"Our admin team did everything they could to save the trip but in the end with no money forthcoming we had to tell the hotel to cancel."
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