Families have told of a spoiled Christmas after their trip to Lapland UK was cancelled when a coach operator went bust.
Sylvia Impey was one of three grandparents hoping to take their grandchildren on a visit to the seasonal attraction near Tunbridge Wells last weekend.
She lost hundreds of pounds when Atlantis Coach Travel, with whom she had booked, collapsed earlier this year before being taken over in July by its original owner Symon Hoffreiter.
Mr Hoffreiter says he lost more than £17,000 when his predecessor Nigel Glenholmes vanished a few months ago.
Mrs Impey, of Sipson Lane, Harlington, said: "We booked up as long ago as February, and we only found out what had happened after reading it in the Gazette.
"It was supposed to be last weekend and we were in total limbo; the grand-children are so disappointed. Trading Standards keeps fobbing us off.
"I feel for Symon because he has lost a substantial amount, but I still feel like I could strangle that Nigel bloke for walking away with all that money.
"I should have known something was up when he asked me to pay it all in cash."
Mr Hoffreiter, who reopened the firm as Symon Paul Travel but was recently forced out of his office in The Arcade, High Street, Uxbridge, said: "I spoke to Mrs Impey and I have total sympathy.
"My hands are tied until Trading Standards and the police sort this out. I'm still waiting to hear from them myself.
"Our trips are still running and we have a new brochure coming out in January with trips to Disneyland and Spain."
