THE WASHOUT summer is swelling the coffers at holiday giant Airtours.

A surge of last-minute holiday bookings has been reported by the Helmshore firm as thousands of fed-up Brits try and escape the downpours.

And Airtours Holidays have decided to cash in by raising prices during the peak school holiday period by around £20.

Although perfectly legal, the move has been criticised by trading standards officials who argue that once the price has been set for a holiday the firm should not change it because of increasing demand.

But Airtours today defended the move and said it was a question of supply and demand.

And the company stressed the price rises only applied to certain destinations. "We still have many holidays available for August but they are selling out very fast, mainly because of the poor weather," said Anita McErlean, director of corporate communications.

"However, we would emphasise that many holidays remain unchanged. This is the third summer when the demand for peak season holidays has been exceptionally high."

Meanwhile, Airtours Holidays has had a complaint upheld against the television programme Watchdog over an item investigating complaints made by customers staying at a hotel in Turkey.

The Broadcasting Standards Commission ruled that there was insufficient evidence to support claims made by the programme, that the BBC was wrong to claim credit for securing compensation for customers, and that the number of people who the programme claimed to have contacted them was untrue.

"We recognise and accept that there is a place in broadcasting for serious, responsible consumer programmes," said Chris Mottershead, managing director of Airtours Holidays.

"However, Airtours and a number of other major UK companies are concerned about Watchdog's lack of adherence to the BSC's official guidelines."

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