A family has slammed their tour operators after a Christmas trip to Finland was today cancelled at the last minute.

Mrs Bonnie Ludkin, of Forncett St Peter, said children were left crying at Norwich International Airport after waiting for more than four hours, only to be told at 11am the trip was cancelled.

The flight was cancelled because of a problem with the on-board flight management system.

Transun, the tour operators, are offering customers flights from other airports or refunds.

Mrs Ludkin, who booked the trip back in January with her husband Paul and children Kirsten, 7, and Jake, 5, said: 'We're not going to be able to go from another airport because it's such a short time until Christmas.

'It's so bad. We got up at 4am today to get to the airport early and we waited five hours only to be told they had to cancel the trip.'

The family spent £2,000 on the tickets.

In return they were meant to get a day trip to Finland where they could take part in activities including a snowmobile trip, reindeer sleigh ride, tobogganing, and meeting Santa Claus.

James Crawshaw, commercial director of Transun, said: 'We offer our sincere apologies to all passengers who who were affected by this morning's cancellation and recognise there will be many disappointed children and parents.

'Currently 85pc of passengers have been re-allocated to other departures and some have chosen to accept a full refund.

'We will be making contact with the remaining passengers during the course of the day.'