IG The attempted abduction took place at the Anastasia Beach Complex in Cyprus

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The group were caught luring the youngsters - who are all believed to be under 10 and British - towards their car outside the busy hotel on the Mediterranean isle of Cyprus. Shocked holidaymakers described how they had seen a gang of around 10 men and women filming the children playing in the pool before the audacious kidnap attempt. Some of the men had even obtained waiters' uniforms so that they could wander freely around the grounds without arousing suspicion. Two of the gang were arrested on the spot and more than 60 British and Irish families have been removed from the resort amid fears the others may return looking for more victims. A holidaymaker, who was part of a wedding party from Dundee, said: “We had seen these people around the hotel all week. They’d been in the pool and interacting with some of the children. “Some of them were wearing staff outfits so they could blend in more easily. It was really scary.”

IG Holidaymakers said the gang of Romanians dressed up as waiters to gain access to the hotel

Some of them were wearing staff outfits so they could blend in more easily. It was really scary Holidaymaker

Dad-of-two Greg Letford, who was also with the party, said staff at the hotel believe the gang may have been Romanian child-smugglers. The 28-year-old told the Daily Record: “This Romanian couple were leading the two young children towards a waiting car, another person had a third child up against a wall ready to go, too. “Someone spotted what they were up to and stopped them. If he hadn’t been there those kids would have gone. “One of the men got away and we heard the getaway car crashed a short distance away too. “When the police turned up, they took the man and woman into an office in the hotel and a crowd built up in the foyer – there must have been about 60 or 70 really angry people. It was chaos. “The police got them into a van through a window for their protection. One of the hotel staff later told us they were Romanian and that one of them used to work at the hotel.” The drama unfolded at the Anastasia Beach Complex, near Protaras, on Tuesday night. After they were spotted, the alleged abductors were grabbed, frogmarched to the hotel office and handed over to detectives. Police posted guards at the hotel following the scare, but alarmed holidaymakers said they had still set up their own security patrols to protect their children. A member of the wedding group said: “What should have been a fantastic wedding has turned into a bit of a nightmare. “Just thinking of what might have happened to those children makes your stomach flip. After it happened, we started patrolling around the accommodation to keep an eye out for them again. We just couldn’t take chances.”

IG The resort, run by Thomas Cook, is popular with British families

The popular family resort, in eastern Cyprus, features an elaborate water park and is run by Thomas Cook. Holidaymakers praised the swift response of the travel company, which immediately arranged return flights to the UK for the families directly attempted by the abductions. The firm also organised for scared customers worried about their children's safety to move to a 5* hotel in Paphos where they would feel safer. A Thomas Cook spokeswoman said the company were taking the incident extremely seriously. She said: “Thomas Cook have requested an increased and immediate security presence at the hotel. “The safety and welfare of our customers is always our first priority and, upon hearing about the incident, we immediately deployed our experienced resort team to the property to provide those customers in residence with individual support.