Parents express anger over cancelled school trip

Maggie Johnston has lost £1,400 on the cancelled school ski trip

Parents of pupils whose ski trip was cancelled due to extreme delays at Dover have expressed anger at not being able to claim refunds.

In April - during massive tailbacks at the busy port on Easter weekend - pupils of Dorothy Stringer school in Brighton were forced to turn back following a 14-hour wait on their coach.

Parents have been told they would not be able to claim nearly £1,400 that they they paid for each child.

Insurer AXA said they "sympathise" with the parents, but the reasons for cancellation were not covered by their policy.

Parent Maggie Johnston described the situation as "really unfair".

"Like many families we can't afford to pay for another trip all over again," she said.

"We've not had a trip, and we've not had our money back, so it's a double loss," she added.

Pupils from Dorothy Stringer secondary school waited 14 hours on a coach in queues at the Port of Dover

Silvia Vintem, general manager of Vision in Education - the company that booked the trip and arranged the insurance - said the issue was "not over yet".

"We are still in conversation with AXA and also with our own public liability insurance, so it's still ongoing," she said.

In a statement, AXA Partners said: "The tour operator’s reason for cancelling the trip was due to long delays experienced at the Port of Dover and unfortunately, this is not covered under the policy terms.

"We recommend that customers thoroughly review policy terms & conditions prior to purchasing travel insurance," they added.