Thomas Cook sunbeds will be bookable ahead of holiday

UK holidaymakers are to be offered the chance to choose their sunbed before they have even left home.

Thomas Cook's trial scheme will allow customers to pay £22 to book a specific lounger in advance of their holiday.

They will be able to pick their preferred location from a map, which will also allow customers to work out when each spot will get sun and shade.

Only some sunbeds will be bookable as part of the scheme, which is being trialled in three hotels next month.

The travel firm's "Choose Your Favourite Sunbed" service will then be available in 30 hotels this summer.

For customers who do not want to pay the premium, a proportion of sunbeds at those hotels will not be part of the scheme.

Sunbed sprints

The service comes after a number of videos were posted online in recent months showing British holidaymakers sprinting to get sunbeds early in the morning.

Thomas Cook's UK managing director Chris Mottershead said the initiative will particularly help "families that want to secure a number of beds together in a specific spot".

It says it is the UK's first package holiday company to provide such a service and follows the trial scheme it introduced last year allowing customers to select their hotel room before the start of their trip.