Travel chaos: Couple placed in 'unsanitary' accommodation after holiday flight cancelled

The initial issue may have been sorted but there are still thousands of people stranded at airports, ITV News' Sejal Karia reports

A couple have told of the "horrendous" experience they endured after being left stranded on holiday due to the air traffic control failure.

Craig and Grace Leach-Smith along with their seven-year-old son, Beau, were due to fly back to Newcastle Airport from Gran Canaria on Monday, but instead were among the thousands to see their flight's grounded by the issue.

Speaking to ITV News, Mr and Mrs Leach-Smith described how they were placed into "completely unsanitary" emergency accommodation by travel agent TUI, in the wake of their flight cancellation.

TUI, which has been criticised by the family for its level of communication and support, has since arranged for them to fly home on Wednesday - nearly two days after their original flight.

ITV News has contacted TUI for comment.

National Air Traffic Services (Nats) said the issue, which started on Bank Holiday Monday, was caused by a complex technical issue.

The organisation apologised for any disruption caused and said it is working with airlines and airports to manage the flights affected.

At first, Mr Leach-Smith said his family "didn't really think much" of the problem as he had been made aware of a Nats update, which said it had been "identified and remedied" by Monday afternoon.

He added he was informed by TUI representatives, later in the day, that their flight was not cancelled and so they boarded a bus to Gran Canaria Airport.

However, after waiting for more than an hour at the airport, the family were told their flight had been cancelled and were asked to re-board buses, which would take them to their accommodation - which TUI had arranged - for the night.

Ms Leach-Smith said: "There was three coaches outside and they herded all the families on.

"We was told we would be given information on the coach, we were handed a little flyer, which had the name of the hotel, [and] we got on the coach. There was no-one on the coach who told us what was going on."

She added they arrived at their hotel late into Monday evening and were left shocked at the room they were given.

"So we all got to the rooms and our room was just completely unsanitary. It was dirty, it was a really strong odor of smoke and sewage," she said.

"There was what looked like faeces on the toilet wall, there was worms coming out the shower… it was absolutely horrendous."

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Ms Leach-Smith said on Tuesday she tried to contact TUI on "several occasions" to discuss their accommodation, but was told no information was available.

"We described what the room was like and requested for a rep to come and visit to see what the room is like," she said.

"They responded saying 'there was no reps available', they wouldn't give us a rep's contact number, they said they didn't have any information."

The Leach-Smith's said their holiday then took another turn when they were told by hotel staff that they had to check out of their room as their booking was only made for one night.

Still without a flight booked to take them home, they said they were advised by TUI to stay in the hotel lobby and await further information.

Eventually, they were informed by a member of hotel staff that their booking had been extended for another night and that they would be placed in a different room.

Mr Leach-Smith said their holiday nightmare was only ended when he received an email from TUI, saying they were booked onto a UK-bound flight for Wednesday morning.

Summarising the end of their holiday, Ms Leach-Smith said she felt her family had been "abandoned", adding: "The whole ordeal was horrendous."