Passengers due to fly with Monarch were left in tears at check-in desks after the airline announced it has gone bust this morning.

All flights travelling from UK have been cancelled and will not be rescheduled, accountants KPMG said.

Manchester Airport has said holidaymakers travelling with Monarch should not go to the airport today.

Hundreds of passengers arrived at Manchester Airport this morning before the announcement was made and were turned away by Monarch staff at check in counters.

The Civil Aviation Authority said all Monarch customers who are abroad and due to return to the UK in the next two weeks will be flown home.

All flights from the UK - some 300,000 future bookings - have been cancelled and will not be rescheduled, accountants KPMG said.

The Civil Aviation Authority said it has been asked by the Government to charter more than 30 aircraft to bring the passengers back to the UK - the biggest peacetime repatriation operation.

CAA chief executive Andrew Haines said: "We know that Monarch's decision to stop trading will be very distressing for all of its customers and employees.

"This is the biggest UK airline ever to cease trading, so the Government has asked the CAA to support Monarch customers currently abroad to get back to the UK at the end of their holiday at no extra cost to them.

"We are putting together, at very short notice and for a period of two weeks, what is effectively one of the UK's largest airlines to manage this task.

"The scale and challenge of this operation means that some disruption is inevitable. We ask customers to bear with us as we work around the clock to bring everyone home."

We'll bring you more reaction to the closure of Monarch Airlines, from Manchester and across the country, as we get it...