Pupils who raised thousands of pounds to fund a trip to Alaska have been left disappointed after the travel company went into administration.

A group of 20 pupils at Gad's Hill School, Higham, spent almost a year organising fundraisers to pay for the trip, which cost them £2,500 each.

Now the Alaskan mountaineering expedition has had to be shelved after the company organising it, Mountain Training School UK, based in Maidstone, went into administration.

The firm was registered with the Department for Education to provide adventurous activities to children.

Gad's Hill headmaster David Craggs said: "We are very disappointed at this news, especially given how hard our children have worked together to raise funds for this expedition.

"It is a pity that MTS have gone into administration – fortunately they were registered with ATOL [which offers financial protection to users of package holidays] and so our children will eventually receive a refund.”

He added: "Understandably the pupils are very disappointed, and although the school has been assured that all of the money paid so far will be refunded via ATOL, it will do little to soften the blow or to compensate them after having lost out on such a fantastic opportunity."

The trip in August would have seen students trekking through mountain ranges, carrying their own backpacks and pitching tents in the frozen land.

The young adventurers had already had a taste of what was to come at a training camp in Snowdonia.

Gad's Hill is in discussions with other companies, and parents, in the hope that the pupils may be able to take part in an alternative trip.

The company could not be contacted for comment.