'All Zoom flights cancelled - please take a letter from the counter'.

That information screen message and a paper copy of Zoom's website statement was the only information on offer to stranded passengers at L.F. Wade International Airport last night.

Up to 20 people arrived between 8 p.m. - 9 p.m. to check-in for the 10.35 p.m. London Gatwick departure, only to find it was cancelled.

There were no representatives from the airline – Zoom does not have an airport office, and it was up to a representative from the Department of Airport Operations to try to assist those stranded.

"I'm just making sure these guys have the Zoom hotline telephone number and can use the phone to call people to come and get them if possible," she said.

A spokesman for Zoom told The Royal Gazette earlier yesterday that the airline had tried to contact all its passengers to warn them of the cancelled flights, but those at the airport said they had not even received an e-mail.

There were 98 people scheduled to travel on last night's Gatwick service and many of those who had been notified tried to book a seat on the 8.05 p.m. British Airways flight.

"We've had Zoom passengers in all day," said a BA representative.

For those stranded last night, however, the chance of flying to London in the next few days looked bleak, with a busy Labour Day holiday weekend in the US and BA flights booked up to capacity.

Clara Grant, a 20-year-old student from Madrid, Spain, said: "I don't know what we're going to do. We have been told there are no flights to Europe until Tuesday, and we don't have anywhere to stay. We are speechless."

Miss Grant, who has been vacationing on the Island for ten days with her mother, said: "There is no one here to give us any information. They should have at least sent us an e-mail."

Another young woman, who did not wish to be named, said: "No, I don't want to comment because it will just be swear words."

Peter Groom, a 48-year-old company director from Kent, said: "There should have been some sort of warning rather than leaving people stranded. They should at least have allowed people to get home."

Mr. Groom's travelling companion Hannah Bayne-Powell said: "The situation is appalling, it has not been handled well at all and there is going to be a frenzy here tomorrow with people trying to get tickets with BA."

Nick Briggs, a 46-year-old actor, was trying to get home to London after a two-week holiday on the Island with Steph Hornett, 40.

Ms Hornett, a UN consultant in communications for developing countries, said: "I think this is appalling, and the most annoying thing is going to be the expense. It has been an expensive holiday anyway and now we are going to have to pay for more accommodation and another flight. I guess we will now try and fly back via America."

Mr. Briggs said: "We had no idea the flight was cancelled. They should have contacted us, but this is what happens when companies go bust – they try to keep it a secret until the last minute.

"It is extremely annoying, but we can't physically do anything about it at the moment, so we will try and go back to the hotel (the Hamilton Princess) and book another flight."

Mr. Briggs is the voice of the Daleks in the famous BBC series 'Dr. Who'. Last night he said: "Whichever bit of scenery you see by a Dalek, well I'm the one behind it with a microphone. So yes, there we are – Daleks are stranded in Bermuda.

"It certainly would be good to have a time machine at the moment."