A STAG-DO party for a Swindon rugby league player was left £7,500 out of pocket after claims that a pal spent the cash.

One member of the party heard the news as he was flying halfway across the world from New Zealand to be with his friend on the special trip.

And the groom’s stepfather was already checked in to a hotel at Gatwick ready to fly out on Thursday when he heard.

A friend of the groom is alleged to have taken the funds earmarked for the Las Vegas trip and booked nothing.

Now, the family of former Swindon St George head coach Ben Whincup are fundraising £6,000 to try and help refund the nine-member stag-do party, some of whom had travelled thousands of miles to be with the 31-year-old on the trip of a lifetime to Las Vegas. As the Adver went to press last night, £500 had been donated on fundraising website GoFundMe.

Police say they are investigating the alleged theft.

Ben, who has been playing rugby league since the age of 14, said yesterday he had mixed emotions: “It’s hard. You’ve never expect anything like this would ever happen.

“Going to Las Vegas was something I’ve always wanted to do.

“The money raised is going to make sure the lads who were booked will get something back.”

Rather than the trip of a lifetime to Las Vegas, Ben is this weekend travelling to Newcastle for the celebrations. He is marrying fiancé of over two years, Emma, in Swindon next month.

“We were all so shocked. You just wouldn’t expect your friend to do that,” said Ben’s mum Sharon Fielden, 48, from Yorkshire.

She was hundreds of miles away from her son when she heard the trip was off: “I couldn’t even go round and give him a big hug.

“I felt so hopeless. It was devastating, such a shock.”

Sharon set up an online fundraiser on website GoFundMe.

“The wedding is only four weeks away and today, instead of flying off for the long awaited holiday they will be travelling back home, sitting at home wondering how this could happen,” she wrote on the site.

“Isn’t this something that only happens in crappy soap operas or Jeremy Kyle.

“They had all saved for over a year and for most of them it was a massive stretch to save for it. One friend was travelling from New Zealand at a cost of over £2,000.

“Last night, we found out the that so-called friend who had organised the trip has stolen all the funds and not booked anything. Three family members had already travelled to London and one was mid-flight from New Zealand.”

Yesterday, more than 11 people had left donations ranging from £10 to £100.

In comments left on the fundraising page, donors expressed their sorrow for Ben and his friend’s predicament.

“Good luck,” one man wrote. Another said: “We hope this will help you in some way. Gutted for you, mate. Hope you still get the decent stag-do that you deserve.”

A couple of days on from the cancelled trip, Ben and the family were bouncing back, mum Sharon said. “I’m so proud of the way he’s dealing with it.

“When he called me this week his voice was shaking.”

Police confirmed they were investigating the alleged theft.

A Wiltshire Police spokeswoman said: “As our enquiries are ongoing it would be inappropriate to comment further.”

Ben, who has previously worked with club Gloucester Warriors, stepped down as St George head coach last summer. In August the Yorkshireman guided Swindon St George to the West of England grand final, where his side went down 14 points to 22 against Bristol’s All Golds.

To donate, visit: www.gofundme.com/save-bens-stag-do.