Romantics miss the boat!

Instead of a £130 four-day trip to Bilbao, they were treated to a 16-hour coach tour of Britain with only one stop for food and drink.

The coach driver picked them up at 11.30am and was due to collect holidaymakers from Chorley, Wigan and other North West towns before heading to Portsmouth.

But passengers were stunned as their driver got lost at every pick-up point, driving down narrow roads in residential areas and even reversing down a one-way street.

By the time the coach reached Sandbach in Cheshire, it was 4pm - the boat was due to sail at 8pm.

Christine Abram, who was heading for a wedding anniversary cruise with husband Norman, said: "I asked the driver then if we were going to get there and he just said 'maybe'."

The passengers were given a ten-minute break to allow a new driver to take over. But when they reached Bath at 7.20pm, they were told they had missed the boat.

The travellers were offered a night in Le Harve but were told there would be no transport and so decided to head home.

Care worker Glenys Carter was with colleagues on the trip.

Glenys, 49, from Plungington, said: "We were looking forward to it so much. We would have got there quicker going backwards."

The couples have been refunded and are now claiming compensation from tour company Continental Connections whose advert appeared in the Lancashire Evening Post as part of a reader holiday promotion. Continental company sales manager, Helen Arkwright, said: "We sincerely regret this and will be conducting a full inquiry."

Lancashire Evening Post reader promotions manager Alan Burgess said: "All our readers have been fully re-imbursed by Continental Connection and we have offered them our assistance in compensation claims.

"Our readers know they have the full backing of the Evening Post, which is no doubt one of the reasons why they travel with us."

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