Four teenagers have told of their disappointment after being forced to pull out of their long-awaited holiday to Majorca because of coach strikes which crippled the popular resort.

The 18-year-olds, all former pupils of Cecil Jones High School in Southend, had chosen a week in the Balearic Islands as the perfect antidote to wind down following their A-level exams.

But what should have been a dream holiday for Michelle Fowler, Lela Wigmoore, Hayley Knight and Kelly Adams turned into a nightmare which meant they never even left London's Gatwick airport.

They finally decided to pull out of the trip after a 17-hour wait in the airport's departure lounge.

In their timetable of horror, the girls:

Checked in at 10am on Saturday

Saw their 12.55pm Britannia BY097A flight cancelled

Waited 12-and-a-half hours until 1.30am Sunday when the next flight was due to take off

Pulled out at 5am Sunday after being told their flight would not be likely to leave until at least 10am

The Britannia flight eventually took off following a 26-hour delay at 3.20pm on Sunday. Each girl now looks set to lose most of the £400 they paid.

A Britannia spokeswoman today (Tuesday) advised they could be entitled to compensation from their travel insurance for having a 12 hour delay but if they had sat through the full 24 hours they could have had most of the holiday fees back.

Michelle, from Mayfield Avenue, Southend, said: "We are all terribly disappointed. We have spent a lot of money on this holiday, but it's not just that, we have been looking forward to this for so long."

A Britannia spokeswoman said: "We would like to say how incredibly sorry we are about the girls' experience. We had about three flights that had very, very long delays including this one."

Grounded - Michelle, Lela, Hayley and Kelly

Picture: MAXINE CLARKE

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