Holidaymakers stranded after airport parking firm goes bust

HUNDREDS of holidaymakers were stranded at Gatwick Airport when a car parking firm closed down and removed some of their vehicles.

Police were called when meet-andgreet company Gatwick First Parking ceased trading and people returning from holiday discovered their cars were missing.

Officers said around 120 vehicles were found at various sites in Sussex and Surrey. Keys left by the tourists before they flew out were discovered at a Surrey office. A further 30 keys were found at the firm, which is not a Gatwick-approved company and has no relationship with the airport, but the cars have yet to be found.

Kyle and Libby Augustin returned from a family break to Portugal with their one-year-old twins on Saturday night to discover the company looking after their Audi Q7 had disappeared.

It was close to midnight when they called Gatwick First Parking. They called police, but after being told that it was a matter for trading standards, had to take a taxi home at a cost of £130.

Mrs Augustin, from Tenterden, Kent, said: “We were all tired but we couldn’t get hold of the firm. We went to where we’d dropped off the car but couldn’t see it.”

Despite being told she would be reunited with her car on Monday it had still not been found by the time she returned to the airport. The 30-year-old added: “I had been on a four-hour journey and had to pay around £200 but I still had no car.”

The owner of 1st Gatwick Parking Mark Smith, which is unrelated to the firm, said: “I’ve been here for 30 years and I’ve seen this happen before. It is easy to set up here, blast through the summer and disappear.” Sgt Darren Taylor, of Gatwick police, said: “It’s essential that passengers use official parking … to avoid this sort of thing happening.”