A FAMILY have spoken of their rage after their dream holiday to Disneyland was left in tatters by a fraudster who conned them out of thousands of pounds.

Hilda Clayton had booked a trip to Disneyland Paris through Ashleigh Turbitt’s firm ‘South Shields Day Trips’ on Facebook - but discovered she had been duped the day before they were due to travel.

She planned the holiday for 17 of her friends and family after her five-year-old grandson Aiden, who suffered from an enlarged heart and liver, battled back from the brink of death.

But the day before they were due to leave they found out that their holiday had never actually been arranged.

Turbitt, 26, did not book any of the coach or day ferry travel, hotels or park tickets she had been paid for.

Instead, she used the cash to pay for spa trips, Sky TV, online gambling, “spending sprees”, clothes, electronics, rent arrears and debts. The mum-of-three even used the money to visit Euro Disney with her own family.

Ms Clayton’s group was left £8,000 out of pocket. The 54-year-old, from South Shields, said: “It is absolutely disgusting what she has done to these bairns. My heart aches for all of them.”

A total of 151 customers paid for dream Disney trips but were left out of pocket.

Turbitt, of Belloc Avenue, South Shields, admitted fraud by representation between February and July 2015 at Newcastle Crown Court and was given a two-year jail term suspended for two years, 240 hours of unpaid work and a nine-month curfew.