Virgin 'sorry' for day out invite

The offer was intended for a small group of people

Virgin Trains' ticket service has apologised to customers after mistakenly inviting tens of thousands of them to a luxury golf day.

TheTrainline sent an e-mail inviting recipients to an event at The Grove Golf Resort Hotel in Hertfordshire.

A spokesman said the offer was intended for a small group but was sent in error to tens of thousands of people.

A second e-mail from Virgin Trains apologised for the mistake and offered customers the chance to win tickets.

It read: "We realise that we might have got you all excited about the prospect of a day at The Grove, and would like to offer you the chance to win one of three places at this event."

The spokesman said: "This was a genuine mistake. We think it should have been reasonably obvious but we acted quickly to apologise.

"Part of that apology is the draw to win tickets to the event."

A spokeswoman for TheTrainline said: "The incident was an unfortunate and genuine mistake and TheTrainline would like to apologise to any Virgin Trains customers affected by it."