A TRAVEL agent who spent 39 years working at Thomas Cook spoke of her shock at the company’s sudden collapse.

Debbie Rogers joined the Regent Street branch in 1980 when it was owned by Pickfords and stayed with it when it was sold to My Travel and then the ill-fated Thomas Cook.

She suddenly became faced with having to leave the place she’d spent her entire working life when the travel company went bust out of the blue.

The 57-year-old from Stratton said: “I was devastated and I felt so bad for the customers. I worried about them more than anything.

“The staff found out at the same time as everyone else, on the news. It was a huge shock for all of us, almost like a bereavement and we didn’t know what to do.

“We wanted to get back to our desks and help people who were affected but we couldn’t. I absolutely love what I do, fulfilling people’s dreams and making them happy, I don’t know anything else.

“I was very lucky in that it only took a couple of weeks to find a new job, others have been less fortunate. There are people who still need support and we want them to know we’re still here to help them.”

Co-Op Travel in Old Town snapped up Debbie along with her colleagues Alison Walker, who spent 11 years at Thomas Cook, and Kelly Mobey, who had just finished an apprenticeship there.

The 19-year-old from Park South said: “I’d only started in 2017 and become fully qualified in April.

“The last day was horrible and heartbreaking. It didn’t fully sink in until a few days later. It wasn’t fair that our customers were just left in the lurch like that.

“Holidays are a massive part of people’s lives and helping them and seeing the excitement when they find one that’s just right is what I love about the job.”

Co-Op Travel’s Newport Street branch manager Krysia Sage said: “Thomas Cook was a really important partner for us so their collapse was a huge shock and a massive shame.

“Colleagues came into work early and stayed late to deal with the impact it had, people worked on their day off, it was all hands on deck.

“We were trying to help their customers as well as ours, people queued out the door.”