Last Cawthra helpline will advise on holiday disasters

Bradford firm Last Cawthra Feather has set up a holiday complaints helpline to cater for the flood of enquiries that occur at the end of each summer.

The aim is to give quick advice to holiday makers who believe they have a claim and then send out a questionnaire in order to identify it.

Neil Shaw, a partner in the firm's litigation department and Geoff Lee, a personal injury litigator, will be on hand to deal with enquiries.

They say they are equipped to deal with a whole range of problems from half-built hotels, surreptitious charges, cancelled flights and baggage loss.

Shaw said: "As more people take holidays abroad, the likelihood of encountering a 'rogue holiday' increases. Photographs in glossy brochures are famous for bearing no resemblance to the actual destination, and the small print hides get out clauses and 'disclaimers'. As a result, people are resorting to litigation to obtain compensation for their ruined holidays."

He said a key problem for claimants were different action limitation periods in countries.