PRESTON pensioners who scrimp and save for a cheap winter holiday look set to be left out in the cold this year as greedy tour operators cash in on Millennium madness.

For years, major tour operators have lured OAPs abroad with the prospect of cheap sunshine holidays out of season.

Often, holidays work out to be cheaper than staying at home and shelling out for massive fuel bills to stave off the winter cold.

But as the end of 1999 approaches, many pensioners will not be able to afford the soaring prices and will be left home alone.

Judith Culshaw, from Preston's Age Concern said: "There is no doubt about it, the prices have gone up and will put some people off because they can't afford it."

One Bamber Bridge pensioner, who asked not to be named, said she was bitterly disappointed that she would be missing out on her winter break.

She said: "It is something I look forward to every year and I have to scrimp to afford it.

"If I go away when it is cold I save on various bills but the prices have gone up so high that I can't afford to leave the country.

"I will be staying with relatives but I will miss seeing the people I meet when I am abroad. It tends to be the same crowd every year.

"It is diabolical. I would appreciate a small increase but this is just taking the mickey."

A week in Malta with Sun World's Golden Circle cost £169 last year. This year it will set people back £499, while a week in Benidorm at the three star Solpeklicanos Hotel, staying with Thomson, will cost £799 instead of £315 for last year.

A spokesman for travel holiday watchdog TravelWatch described the increases as appalling.

But a spokesman for Thomson said: "Demand is high and we are a business. Our costs have increased because of increased charges imposed by the hoteliers and staff wages."

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