Thomas Cook customers have been left heartbroken by the cancellation of their holidays.

The global travel group has collapsed after 178 years of trading - leaving more than 150,000 Brits stranded abroad and people at home unsure as to whether they will get their money back on future trips.

People stood outside the shop in The Mall, Maidstone, which didn't open this morning, hoping to find out if their holiday was still going ahead.

One disappointed customer was due to be heading to the Canary Islands for 12 nights tomorrow, setting off on a cruise ship from Southampton.

The woman, who did not wish to be named, had saved up for a year for the £4,000 trip she was planning to take with her husband.

She went to the store this morning expecting staff to be outside directing customers and helping with their queries.

She said: "There has been no communication, we only found out last night. There should be someone here to tell us what is happening. We don't know what we're going to do now."

Other customers were stood outside the closed shop looking for updates on their holiday but were unsuccessful.

As well as affecting holiday goers, hundreds of Thomas Cook employees in Kent are out of work.

The company employs 22,000 people worldwide, including 9,000 in the UK.

Last minute negotiations to save the company, which has 13 branches across the county including; Ashford, Gillingham, Hythe, Maidstone, Canterbury, Folkestone, Whitstable, Herne Bay, Dartford, Sheerness, Gravesend, Ramsgate and Tunbridge Wells, failed last night.

A 24-hour helpline has been set up for customers - 0300 303 2800

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