A WORKINGTON family who were caught up in the collapse of holiday firm Thomas Cook have praised a Carlisle travel agent who rescued their dream holiday to Florida.

Hours before they were due to catch their plane, Amelia Palmer, 27, and Dean Robinson, 29, were in Manchester with Evie, eight, and Declan, 10, when the news broke that the 178-year-old firm had ceased trading.

The children had been looking forward to celebrating their birthdays during the visit to the Disney World Resort in Orlando - something the family had saved for over many months. They feared the holiday would never happen - but it was rescued thanks to the intervention of Demi-Jade Markham, assistant manager at Cumbria Travel in Fisher Street, Carlisle.

She swiftly organised a replacement holiday - complete with the trip to Disney World.

"When we heard about Thomas Cook, it was a huge disappointment," said Amelia, of Moorclose, Workington.

"It was awful breaking it to the kids.

"We were sitting in the hotel in Manchester, ready to fly, when the story came out.

"We were trying to keep out hopes up for the sake of the children. They were supposed to be spending their birthday in Florida but we had to break it to them that they weren't going."

The children took the news bravely, and seemed determined to make the best of their situation, said Amelia.

But she and Dean could see the disappointment in their faces.

Over the next few hours, as the family made their way back to west Cumbria, they had a Facebook message from Demi-Jade.

Determined to help, she spent hours calling industry contacts, organising a replacement holiday.

"She managed to rebook everything so we could go [this week]," said Amelia.

"It was absolutely fantastic."

The family will get a refund for the holiday they lost but for the time being family members have chipped to help fund the replacement trip.

Demi-Jade, 26, whose firm also has branches in Whitehaven and Workington, said: "Obviously, I'm not the only one at Cumbria Travel who has worked hard this week to help customers: it's been hectic.

"We all did everything we could to help people who had lost their holidays."

When she realised the scale of the Thomas Cook crisis, said Demi-Jade, she drove into work early, and with colleagues spent hours battling to reorganise lost holidays.

Demi-Jade,who has just been crowned High Street Travel Agent of the Year in the latest Travel Trade Gazette annual awards, added: "Amelia got back to me, and then messaged me directly on Facebook to say thank you very much; it made my day. She was so emotional, saying she couldn't thank me enough.

"Holidays like this are so important: you save all year - and some people save for multiple years.

"Most people have just one family holiday a year.

"It's a chance to have quality time together."