Since April, Ash from the Eyjafjallajokull volcano has continued to cause disruptions across the UK and other parts of Europe as thousands of flights have been delayed or cancelled.

Schools and colleges were affected as staff and pupils were stranded abroad and couldn't return to the UK (as previously reported in last month's 'Post').

Along with the effect on schools, travel agents in the 'Post' area have expressed how the incident has

affected them.

Speaking with Holsworthy Travel's managing director, Emma Blight, she explained that due to the modern age in which we now live, many people view the high street travel agent as an outdated commodity that is no longer needed. However, the faceless entity of the internet has never been more apparent than when last month, on April 15, National Air Space closed for six days.

No-one could have predicted the utter chaos that occurred and the scale of the operation that lay ahead in sorting out the aftermath. It is times like this when your local independent travel agent will take all the worry and hassle away.

Emma commented on the procedure that Holsworthy Travel followed to ensure customers were aware of the situation.

"Our main priority was our clients, due to the trusty mobile telephone and email I was able to make contact with most of my customers to re-assure them that they were not alone and that my phone was left switched on 24 hours a day. I even spoke to my clients in New Zealand!

"Where necessary we re-booked passengers on later flights but we did find that the tour operators stepped up to the mark and provided additional accommodation and meals until our passengers were able to be repatriated, but, most importantly, we were always on the end of the phone to offer advise and assistance if required."

She added: "We opened our office on Sunday and spent the entire day re-booking holidays for customers who were due to travel the following day. All monies were transferred and it didn't cost our clients a penny. Due to such high call volumes it was a somewhat drawn out affair with one telephone call lasting two hours! There were a small number of bookings we were not able to re-book due to client's prior commitments but they will all receive a full refund.

"As a small independent agency we were very proud of how we handled this extraordinary situation and know that our customers really appreciated out assistance. I think it proves without a shadow of a doubt that the high street travel agency can still provide a valuable service to the general public."

It was reported at the beginning of the week that the latest dense patch of ash had disrupted the travel plans of tens of thousands of people over the weekend, mainly in northern parts of the UK.

All flight restrictions have now been lifted, after the volcanic ash cloud over UK airspace moved away.