We were stranded after our easyJet flights were cancelled last minute… we were forced to fork out £2,500 extra

A DEVASTATED family left "trapped" and "scared" by easyJet were forced to fork out an eye-watering £2,500 to end their hellish ordeal.

Michael Tierney said he and his family of five, including a nine-month-old baby, were subjected to "inhumane" scenes at a Turkish airport after their flight was cancelled.

The shell-shocked clan from Oldham, Greater Manchester, were left marooned in Antalya for three days as dozens slept on the airport floor, unable to book flights.

Crisis then struck when baby Ralphie passed out because of the stress from the airport chaos.

Faced with no option, Michael and partner Amy MacDonald, along with their three kids: Darcey, 9; Corey, 14; and Ralphie splurged thousands on new flights and hotels.

He told the : "I should have been back three days ago [May 31]... We felt trapped in another country, it was scary.

"We were checking the flights on the app when we were travelling there on Tuesday night and it didn't say anything had changed

"We were just told to make our own way back and to sort it ourselves, a lot of people there had no money to do that.

"People just ended up on the floor with loads of kids crying."

Michael's brother was able to book him a flight back to Manchester Airport but the dad-of-three said sly carriers were inflating their prices amid the chaos.

The family forked out on more food for the baby, travel, and hotels, coming to just under £2,500 in total over three days of carnage.

Michael slammed: "It just felt like a complete shambles. Nobody was there to help.

"How can they leave families just like that, it feels inhumane, people had to just sleep at the airport."

The dad-of-four hammered EasyJet for showing "no compassion at all" throughout the ordeal.

It comes as hundreds of thousands of Brits have seen their flights cancelled in recent weeks as Britain's airports delve deeper into crisis.

TRAVEL CARNAGE

Thousands of easyJet and TUI customers have been subject to cancelled flights, baggage losses and delays - with carriers blaming a shortage of staff.

Figures from aviation data firm Cirium said 291 departures from major UK airports had been cancelled between May 25 and Tuesday.

Queues have swelled in the departure halls of airports such as Manchester, Bristol and Gatwick as the nation's airports buckle under the strain of post-Covid travel.

The Government are now demanding airports ramp up recruitment immediately to ease the hell.

Footage emerged earlier this week, showing frustrated passengers clambering onto a luggage carousel in an attempt to find their bags after long waits.

Many airports are now urging passengers to limit the luggage they take to just one bag to minimise security checks.

And the timing couldn't be worse, as this weekend is set to be the busiest weekend for airports in more than two years.

A spike in travellers is expected as families return home from holidays over the half-term and the Platinum Jubilee bank holiday.

Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has called for the Army to step in to relieve pressure on airport security.

The Government has said it is the responsibility of the aviation industry to recruit adequate numbers of staff as travel restrictions were eased, telling the sector to step up recruitment.