THE COLLAPSE of three Forest of Dean travel businesses and a further one at Caldicot left staff upset and in tears. But they have carried on working behind the scenes to make sure local people get the holidays they have booked.

Shops in Lydney, Coleford and Cinderford were ordered to close immediately last week.

"We want the people of the Forest of Dean to know that we do care," said a member of staff.

"We were as shocked and surprised as everyone else. We were just closed down at the drop of a hat.

"We were told the company was going into liquidation and to collect our bags, turn the lights off and go home," she said.

But behind the scenes staff have since been working with ABTA officials to make sure clients who had booked tickets and arranged holidays get what they paid for.

The staff member told the Review: " All we know is that Roy Knight, who owns the businesses, is in Cyprus. We doubt he will be coming back. All the staff are owed wages but we doubt we will get a penny now. It was a big shock and a lot of people were in tears.

"A lot of the girls have been too scared to walk through the towns. They are feeling really bad about it but they did not know a thing.

"Fortunately all the holidays that have been booked are ABTA bonded. Staff have been working voluntarily with ABTA to make sure everything is in order . They can't believe how helpful we have been," she said.