More than 21,000 staff members at Thomas Cook have today lost their jobs after the company went into compulsory liquidation.

The tour operator has ceased trading with immediate effect after failing in a final bid to secure a rescue package from creditors.

More than 150,000 British holidaymakers are currently abroad and will need to be repatriated as a result of the 178-year-old firm's collapse, the Civil Aviation Authority said.

The CAA said in a statement: "All Thomas Cook bookings, including flights and holidays, have now been cancelled. There are currently more than 150,000 Thomas Cook customers abroad, almost twice the number that were repatriated following the failure of Monarch.

"We know that a company with such long-standing history ceasing trading will be very distressing for its customers and employees and our thoughts are with everyone affected by this news."

The group's four airlines will be grounded and its 21,000 employees in 16 countries, including 9,000 in the UK, will be left unemployed.

Thomas Cook also operated around 600 UK high street stores, including branches across south west London

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said the Government had asked it to launch a repatriation programme over the next two weeks, starting on Monday and running to October 6, to bring Thomas Cook customers back to the UK.

The CAA statement said: "Due to the unprecedented number of UK customers currently overseas who are affected by the situation, the Civil Aviation Authority has secured a fleet of aircraft from around the world to bring passengers back to the UK with return flights.

"Passengers in a small number of destinations may return on alternative commercial flights, rather than directly through the Civil Aviation Authority's flying programme. Details and advice for these passengers are available on the dedicated website.

"Due to the significant scale of the situation, some disruption is inevitable, but the Civil Aviation Authority will endeavour to get people home as close as possible to their planned dates. This will apply to both Atol protected passengers and those who are not protected.

"Customers currently overseas should not travel to the airport until their flight back to the UK has been confirmed on the dedicated website.

"Thomas Cook customers in the UK yet to travel should not go to the airport as all flights leaving the UK have been cancelled."

Speaking on ITV's Good Morning Britain, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the process of repatriating all the British people stranded abroad was expected to cost in the region of £100 million.

When asked why the Government hadn't simply bailed Thomas Cook out, he replied: "The company were asking for up to £250 million, they needed about £900 million on top of that and they've got debts of £1.7 billion, so they idea of just spending tax payers's money on that just wasn't really a goer."

He added: "I think the problem of putting money into it - apart from the fact governments don't usually go around investing in travel companies - is that it may have just stretched things out for a couple of weeks and we could have been exactly where we started."

Lisa Godbeer and her family were due to fly out to Mexico for a trip of a lifetime to celebrate her 40th birthday.

She said they had paid more than £6,000 for the 10-day holiday to Cancun for her and her husband, her daughter and a friend.

Ms Godbeer, from Somerset, added: "I'm really angry and a bit shocked really.

"We has a joke yesterday saying imagine we get there and it (Thomas Cook) had shut down.

"If it was a couple of hundred quid I wouldn't care but it's a bloody lot of money."

If you have been affected by this contact emily.hennings@newsquest.co.uk