A BID by Airtours to become the biggest travel firm in the country was set to be blocked by the European Commission today.
Plans by the firm to take over rivals First Choice looked certain to be vetoed.
The EU's new commissioner in charge of competition policy, Mario Monti, was expected to announce that the merger would create an unfair domination of the UK travel industry by just three companies.
The link-up would reduce the number of major tour operators in the UK to Thomson Travel, Thomas Cook and the newly merged Airtours-First Choice company.
That, the Commission believes, is an unacceptable domination of a sector by just a handful of firms.
Airtours employs more than 1,000 people at its Helmshore and Accrington bases.
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