Air passengers are left stranded

Passengers were told they could not get a flight until Thursday

More than 180 passengers have been stranded in Germany and Rome after their Ryanair flights back to Prestwick were cancelled.

The passengers in Germany have been offered a refund or the next available flight back to Scotland but have been told that will not be until Thursday.

Ryanair said it regretted the inconvenience but was acting according to its policy.

Some of the travellers were attempting to get back home by bus.

Many of the passengers had been visiting the German markets.

We are sorry but there's not a lot we can do for the group, as all our flights are busy just now and we have no spare aircraft Ryanair spokesman

On Sunday, a Ryanair spokesman said: "This morning's flight from Prestwick to Hamburg Lubeck was cancelled because of a technical problem, which meant the return flight from Hamburg Lubeck to Prestwick was also cancelled.

"We are sorry for the inconvenience this has caused our passengers. Ryanair cancels the fewest flights in Europe, with 99.4% of our flights operating to schedule.

"We do occasionally have to cancel a flight due to technical problems or bad weather.

"In the case of a cancellation, our policy is to give a full refund or offer a seat on the next available flight."

Next flight

He said the passengers opted not to take a refund and would therefore be travelling on the next available flight.

"We are sorry but there's not a lot we can do for the group, as all our flights are busy just now and we have no spare aircraft," he said.

"We do recommend that passengers should have travel insurance and we have accommodated them on the next available flight. It is not our policy to offer complimentary hotel accommodation."

The Rome passengers were forced to spend Saturday night in the airport after their flight was also cancelled.