The family of a disabled boy say he was forced to sleep on an airport floor with no blankets and little food after they were stranded in Tenerife for over 24 hours.

Hundreds of British holidaymakers were hit by flight cancellations following bad weather in the Canary Islands earlier in the week.

Many passengers accused tour operator Thomas Cook of leaving stranded customers to fend for themselves without any assistance from a rep.

Scott Parry, 13, who suffers from cerebral palsy, was forced to sleep on Tenerife airport floor after his flight back home to the UK was delayed for over 24 hours

The Parry family claim they were in tears as Scott cried as he lay on the floor to go to sleep

And the Parry family from Brownhills in the West Midlands say they were left in the airport with nowhere else to go after their flight to East Midlands Airport was delayed.

Vicki and Scott Parry were forced to lay their son Scott, who suffers from cerebral palsy, on the floor to sleep and now fear he won't be able to move for up to a week because he requires cushioned support.

Father, Scott, 47, also claims that he was in tears watching his son crying on the floor and was forced to comfort him so the 13-year-old would fall asleep.

While mother, Vicki, 36, described the scenes at Tenerife airport as like a 'third world country' adding that pregnant women and the elderly were left with little food or drink.

Mrs Parry, who is her son's full-time carer, said: 'It's just so upsetting that it was allowed to happen in a country like that.

Hundreds of British holidaymakers were hit by flight cancellations following bad weather in the Canary Islands earlier in the week. Pictured are passengers at Norte Airport in Tenerife

'It's not like we were in a third world country. We felt like homeless people.

'Other disabled passengers, the elderly and pregnant women were having to sleep on the floor. We were offered no blankets, no pillows or cushions. Nothing.

'Scott has cerebral palsy, is deaf and wears nappies overnight. It was practical things like that.

'We didn't have any with us because we weren't expecting to be delayed this long and there was no chemist at the airport for us to buy any from. We were having to wake him to go to the toilet every hour.

Scott's sister Katie, 12, used her brother's wheelchair as a makeshift bed during the delay

'At least one of the passengers was on morphine and had put it in her case with no access to it.

'Babies were unable to have their nappies changed because there was nowhere to buy them.

'For me, if it was the two of us it would have been bearable but it was the two children.

'Thomas Cook could have done so much more.'

The Parry family had paid £3,500 for their week-long holiday at a four-star resort in Tenerife and despite having a relaxing break, Mrs Parry is worried their son will struggle to move for some time after sleeping on the cold floor.

She explained: 'I made a bed on the floor for Scott and we had to take him out of the wheelchair. He won't be able to move now for a week.

'It was like we were in a third-world country. We had to help other wheelchair users on to the floor so they could sleep too.

'When we told the Thomas Cook rep, she said "oh we didn't realise, we're trying to open the VIP lounge for you, I'll go and speak to someone" and she never came back.

'We were all entitled to a welfare token worth 20 euros but it's not a 24-hour airport and the last flight was 11.30pm. Only the Burger King stayed open and they opened another café.

'At 6am on Monday our card was topped up with 20 euros but this time no-one was told so another woman only found out when she went to pay for something.'

Scott, pictured left on holiday in Tenerife and right with his mother anD sister. The Parry family had paid £3,500 for their week-long holiday at a four-star resort in Tenerife

As passengers grew increasingly anxious on the holiday island, they desperately searched online to see if any flights were scheduled to arrive from Tenerife to East Midlands Airport.

Some even tried to track the location of the aircraft on their phones as no reps were available.

Mr Parry added: 'I could see there was a storm coming and after we checked in no flights were going in or out of the airport.

'Obviously, we appreciated that it was going to be late because of the rain but there were no Thomas Cook representatives anywhere.

Thomas Cook has since apologised for the 'clearly unacceptable' treatment of its customers and has offered the Parry family £600 in compensation

'A lot of other travel companies had their reps around and were making announcements over the PA system.

'Thomas Cook had three flights going out so I'd say there were around 1,000 customers unattended to.

'Customers were trying to get information from the UK or trying to track the plane online.

'After two hours you are entitled to some sort of welfare token and Jet2 announced over the PA that its customers could go and collect theirs.

'We thought "what about us?" They were telling us everything was happening behind the scenes.

'They couldn't get the plane out to the UK and there were no hotels left because all the other flight companies had snapped up the hotels.'

The family claim that when reps finally arrived at 11.30pm, crowds of concerned travellers surrounded the information desk and desperately sought information.

It was then revealed that all the hotels were already booked up by other tour operators but if customers could find a hotel room, Thomas Cook would reimburse them.

Mrs Parry claims another tourist could only find a room for £247 a night.

People were also affected by the delays at Lanzarote Airport and were pictured sleeping behind check-in desks

Severe weather in the Canary Islands affected holidaymakers travelling back to the UK from Tenerife and Lanzarote, pictured

She said: 'Reps arrived at 11.30pm but obviously they were then inundated with customers and we didn't get to speak to any of them directly.

'At 1.30am, Thomas Cook then announced the flight was cancelled and if we could get a hotel ourselves they would reimburse us. It was a two-hour wait for taxis and we needed to be back at the airport for 6am.

'Somebody else we knew was hoping to get out of the airport into a hotel but they were charging £274 for a night. That's not affordable when you've just had a holiday.'

Thomas Cook has since apologised for the 'clearly unacceptable' treatment of their customers and have offered the Parry family £600 in compensation.

A spokesperson said: 'This is clearly unacceptable and we have apologised to the Parry family for the experience they had while delayed at Tenerife airport due to poor weather.

'We have offered compensation to the family, which they have accepted.'