A teacher has slammed a budget airline for leaving her stranded in Rome after her flight home to Manchester was cancelled.

Stacey Keith is one of dozens of Ryanair passengers who were due to fly back to Manchester from Ciampino airport on Tuesday morning.

But holidaymakers were forced to make other arrangements when the lunchtime flight was reportedly cancelled.

The sudden changes have left many stuck in the Italian capital and forced to find emergency accommodation or fork out for alternative flights home.

Stacey was due to return home to Prestwich after a romantic break with her partner Daniel to celebrate her 30th birthday.

“We turned up for our flight this morning and everything was fine,” she said. “About an hour before the flight they said the runway was closed due to a technical fault.

“We got to the gate and they started handing out bottles of water but we were told the wait would only be about 40 minutes.

“Next thing the boards were saying the Manchester and London flights were cancelled. Everyone started panicking and couldn’t get out of the gate.

“Anyone with checked luggage had to go back on the bus to collect their bags from the plane.

“There must have been 600 people queuing at the Ryanair desks trying to find out what was happening.

“They just handed out a print out saying which flights were going back to Manchester on other airlines. But some people are having to wait three or four days.”

Stacey and Daniel were forced to cough up another £500 for the earliest available flight back to Manchester, which is not until Thursday.

The couple have also had to pay another £100 for two nights extra accommodation in Rome.

Science teacher Stacey, from Prestwich, added: “It’s ridiculous. It’s GCSE results day on Thursday. I’ve got 60 Year 11 pupils that I won’t be able to see now.

“People have been waiting for six hours and lots of people had young kids with them.”

Several other Ryanair passengers took to Twitter on Tuesday to vent their frustrations with the airline.

Aminul Hassan wrote: @Ryanair cancelled my flight from Rome to Manchester instead offered me a replacement from Naples two days late.

(Image: Badudoy/ Wiki Commons)

While Liz Hillier added: @Ryanair appalling customer service following cancelled flights from Rome Ciampino to Manchester and London this morning

Others desperate to get back to the UK also complained to the airline.

Phil Robinson commented: “Won’t be coming home for at least 3/4 days will miss a funeral and the match on Wednesday... @Ryanair are officially the crappiest airline”.

A Ryanair spokesperson said: "This flight from Rome Ciampino to Manchester (August 22) was regrettably cancelled due to a runway closure at Rome.

"All affected customers were contacted by email and SMS text message and advised of their options of a full refund, a free transfer on to the next available flight, or a free transfer on to an alternative route, and were provided with hotel accommodation where needed.

"Ryanair sincerely apologised to all customers affected by this cancellation, which was entirely beyond our control.

"In relation to this customer (Stacey Keith), she requested a refund of her air fare, which was immediately processed."