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A Welsh woman has described the moment a group of British holidaymakers were "held hostage" by their hotel in Tunisia .

Sophie Rees, 24, from Swansea, was part of a group of tourists who were kept as prisoners and "held for ransom" at the Les Orangers Beach Resort on Saturday, September 21.

According to Sophie, the hotel barricaded the front gate and physically prevented people from leaving to catch their flights.

She said: "We were getting ready to leave yesterday [Saturday] when the hotel said we had to pay for the whole hotel because Thomas Cook had not paid them.

"We did not pay them. We already had paid Thomas Cook and it sounded a little bit dodgy. However a woman, who I would say was in her late eighties or early nineties, paid £2,500."

When the bus arrived to take the group to the airport Sophie said the hotel barricaded the gate and refused to let them leave.

"The bus was late to arrive and when it did they barricaded the gates," said Sophie.

(Image: Sophie Rees) (Image: Sophie Rees)

"They said we can not go and the coach just left because it couldn't get in. They wouldn't let us leave and when people tried to go through the gate the physically pushed them back.

"We tried to contact people but they turned off the wifi so we couldn't contact anyone. They told us that we could not leave until Thomas Cook had paid them."

Some guests posted their incarceration on Twitter:

Following this people started getting understandably agitated.

"How can you keep a group of tourists hostage?" said Sophie. "There were people in tears and people getting quite aggresive. When that is happening you have to distance yourself from it.

"We thought the only way to stop this happening again was to get news involved so we started filming and taking pictures."

According to Sophie she was only allowed to leave the hotel once Thomas Cook had met with the hotel.

She added: "We think what happened was that two Thomas Cook reps went into an office and paid the ransom."

Thomas Cook is the world's oldest travel firm and is in talks with the UK Government and potential investors about a last-minute rescue deal to fend off a collapse.

In a statement a Thomas Cook spokeswoman said: "We are aware that a small number of customers were asked to pay for their hotel room before leaving Les Orangers in Tunisia yesterday.

"This has now been resolved and customers flew home as planned. We continue to support our customers in all our resorts."

It is understood that no new arrivals will be sent to that hotel and all customers are being offered alternative accommodation.

Les Orangers Beach Resort have been contacted for comment.

Are you travelling on a Thomas Cook holiday? This video explains how the companies financial could affect you: