Air passengers stranded as parking firm halts services

John Woodward, 71, said he was forced to wait with others in torrential rain while his vehicle was located

Passengers were left stranded for hours after returning from holiday to find a meet-and-greet airport parking firm had abruptly halted operations.

Birmingham Airport said it had been informed Blue Circle Parking had suspended all operations and was in the process of cancelling and refunding customers.

Sally Skinner, from Hereford, told the BBC it took eight hours to track down her vehicle after returning to the airport at 01:00 BST and getting no response to her calls.

The BBC has asked Blue Circle Parking for an official comment. A member of staff said services at other airports were unaffected.

Passengers reported being stranded when returning in the early hours of the morning

Booking agent Holiday Extras said on its website Blue Circle Parking was experiencing some "operational challenges" in Birmingham and Maple Parking, Airparks and the airport had stepped in to help.

Ms Skinner said she spent hours sitting with about a dozen other "freezing cold" holidaymakers in an airport hotel, calling every contact number she could find to trace their cars.

"Everyone else was coming in drenched with their suitcases and just hoping somebody was going to bring their car," she said.

A passenger with a tracker on her car located it in a facility on Mackadown Lane, about 3 miles (4.8km) away.

We were told our car wasn't there," Ms Skinner said. "[But my son-in-law] called in and luckily our car was on the carpark."

Ms Skinner said staff in the parking areas told her they had "a whole day of it" yesterday. "And they'll have a whole day of it today," she added.

Travellers reported nobody from the parking firm answering calls

John Woodward, 71, from Bridgnorth, Shropshire, said he could not contact the firm when he arrived in Birmingham at 04:15 BST from a break in Turkey.

"The telephone numbers that you call from the luggage area, none of them were being answered today, all of the lines were dead," he said.

Assuming workers were busy, he and his wife walked in torrential rain to the carpark where they had dropped the vehicle off, finding a group of others.

"I'm 71 and there were people older than me in the carpark and drenched to the skin."

Eventually, his registration plate number was located on a list and he was able to drive home.

Her claims other passengers' cars could not be found and they were told they must take public transport or taxis home.

Birmingham Airport said it and NCP teams had been actively trying to assist impacted travellers.

A spokesperson said: "Blue Circle customers with future bookings with this provider will be contacted by the operator."

They added customers who had booked through third party parking consolidators should check and contact them accordingly.

According to its website, Blue Circle Parking is based in London Heathrow and offers parking at London Gatwick, London Luton and Birmingham Airport.

Its website states it has been in operation since 2009, and also offers park and ride services.

However, London Gatwick Airport told the BBC the firm did not operate there.

Holiday Extras apologised to its customers who had experienced delays and it has shared with them details of a helpline.

Seamus McCauley, head of public affairs, added: "As soon as we were made aware of the problem we immediately took steps to make sure that our customers were able to drop off and collect their cars as planned.

"Everyone who has a Blue Circle booking can now drop off and collect their car as planned, and their booking will be handled by our partners at Maple Parking."