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Millions of people take advantage of Ryanair’s low-cost flights every year, with many falling foul of the airline’s baggage policies

A Ryanair passenger has claimed she’s been hit with a £75 after the wheels of her suitcase poked out of the airline’s bag sizer despite having paid extra to bring it on board.

The incident occurred when Gilly Bachelor was flying from Birmingham Airport to Malaga in Spain and was halted at the boarding gate.

The 55-year-old expressed that she was informed she couldn’t carry the bag onboard even though she had paid for both priority and two cabin bags options. Gilly alleges that she was charged an additional £75 to bring the bag onboard, over and above the £125 flight cost, during this “stressful” encounter.

“I’ve taken that bag on lots of flights with no problem, just not Ryanair,” Gilly, hailing from Brewood, near Cannock, Staffs, shared with Luxury Travel Daily.

“As we were boarding, a gentleman was checking all the bags. They put it in the sizer, and the issue was with the wheels, and that it was slightly too wide. I travel a lot myself, so I’m usually pretty relaxed, and clearly this caught me out this time.”

Gilly, who owns a travel agency, alleges that a staff member was inspecting every bag as passengers boarded the plane, with at least 20 being singled out and fined. She added: “Ryanair is a very low-cost airline, so they operate to tight margins and will generate extra revenue wherever they can.

“I also heard that Ryanair staff receive an incentive for every bag they flag as oversized.

“I checked, and it’s true, but it’s only a small portion of the fine.

“Even so, it’s clearly enough to keep staff vigilant and enforce the rules strictly.

“At least 20 people were caught out.

“Ryanair gets a lot of criticism, but the rules are clear and easy to follow.

“I used them outbound because the timing worked, but flew home with easyJet and my bag was fully compliant, as it would have been with Jet2.”

Gilly offered some advice: “My advice is to check the size rules carefully and invest in a compliant bag. It’s much less stressful than being caught at the gate and paying a fine.”

Ryanair has been contacted by The Mirror for a statement.

A journalist who spent a night in one of Blackpool FC’s hotel rooms claimed he was told there would be a fine a jaw-dropping sum if he opened the curtains during one key moment

A man who spent £137 on a hotel room was shocked to discover that he might be fined £2,500 if he simply opened the curtains.

Said hotel room is inside Blackpool FC’s Bloomfield Road ground and sits behind one of the goals at either side of the team’s pitch.

However, the individual staying in the room, journalist Ben East, was warned that if he opened the curtains during a match, he could be fined £2,500.

Baffled by the instruction, Ben said he checked the rules with members of staff downstairs, who said they didn’t police it as a hotel, but that ‘apparently’ guests could be fined if they are caught opening the curtains.

Commenting on the matter for the Telegraph, Ben remarked that keeping the curtains shut during a match rather ruined the experience, especially during Blackpool’s game against Bradford.

He said: “All of which slightly ruins the executive pitch-view selling point, of course – it’s now just an incredibly beige room with a hint of maroon.

“I then hear about Swan’s finish on BBC Radio’s 5 Live Sport, minutes after hearing the roars from outside. It was deft, sure, but it wasn’t worth £2,500 to see in the flesh.

“To threaten people with this sort of penalty for peering out of the window of a room that has been converted from an executive box sounds absurd – or at least conceptually flawed.”

Furthermore, Ben added that other stadiums don’t have the rule, such as Bolton Wanderers, who he said didn’t require the curtains to be closed in their stadium rooms.

A spokesperson for Blackpool FC said: “Whilst the hotel and football club understand any frustrations this may cause, all EFL and FA regulations must be observed. This includes limitations on the consumption of alcohol within sight of the pitch whilst a match is in play.”

Ben’s comments about Blackpool FC’s hotel room came months after data showed the city of Blackpool received a boost in tourism numbers.

The annual STEAM report, that independent measures tourism indicators, shows that visitors to the area were on the rise, with the city attracting 21.5m tourists in 2023, six percent up on 2022 figures.

When the figures were released in March last year, Blackpool Council leader councillor Lynn Williams MBE said: “Blackpool welcomed large crowds thanks to a diverse programme of major events, the launch of new attractions, a two-month extension of the autumn Illuminations season, and the expansion of the hugely successful Christmas By The Sea village.

“All of these factors, combined with strong partnerships and impactful marketing, reinforce our commitment to keeping Blackpool as the UK’s most visited seaside resort and firmly establishing it as a thriving year-round destination.”

EUROSTAR passengers have been left stranded for hours due to a power supply fault with holidaymakers urged not to travel.

Journeys between the UK and France are cancelled or seriously delayed as a result of the problem with the overhead power supply in the Channel Tunnel.

Eurostar said it strongly advised all its passengers to postpone their journey to a different date.

The high-speed train operator warned passengers to expect severe delays and last-minute cancellations due to the power supply problem.

London’s St Pancras International station is crammed with waiting passengers near the departure area as they wait for updates.

Disgruntled passengers took to social media to vent their frustrations.

One traveller even claimed they were “stranded on the Eurostar for four hours”.

Another called the delays “absolutely ridiculous” after being stuck on a train for five hours.

He was travelling to Brussels but is now back in London, which he said “ruined new years plans”.

Others reported several trains stuck in the tunnel itself.

Some are stuck in lines of traffic waiting to board Eurostar, with one posting on X: “Going nowhere. Power failure apparently. One way to end the year!”

Eurostar said in a statement on its website: “Due to a problem with the overhead power supply in the Channel Tunnel and a subsequent failed Le Shuttle train, we strongly advise all our passengers to postpone their journey to a different date.

“Please don’t come to the station unless you already have a ticket to travel.

“We regret that trains that can run are subject to severe delays and last-minute cancellations.

“Please check for live updates on the status of your train on the train status and timetables page.”

Delays are being reported on both LeShuttle terminals – that’s the service that takes road vehicles on trains across the Channel.

On the UK side, there is a delay of around three-and-a-half hours to the booked time.

Meanwhile, at the terminal in France, the delay is currently around two hours.

National Rail is also advising passengers to reschedule their journeys.

It says the on-going power issue is very likely to lead to severe delays and last-minute cancellations between London St Pancras International and Paris.

“There is a problem with the overhead power supply in the Channel Tunnel,” National Rail say.

“Trains are likely to be subject to severe delays and last-minute cancellations.

“Check before you travel as your journey could be disrupted. We strongly advise all passengers to postpone their journey to a different date.”

ADAM Peaty’s dad Mark has broken cover and been seen for the first time since his son married Holly Ramsay yesterday.

The devastated dad and his wife Caroline were snubbed from the star-studded big day amid a bitter family feud.

We revealed that Adam allegedly told Mark he could only attend if he sat at the back of Bath Abbey, where the lavish celebration took place.

But Mark declined, finding the offer insulting, and remained at home 150 miles away as Adam tied the knot.

Today, he has been pictured walking his dog, worlds away from the glitz and glamour of his son’s big day.

Mark kicked on with his day-to-day duties, wearing an orange coat and beanie hat for the drizzly walk.

ICY MESSAGE

Adam Peaty ‘sent brutal text by aunt moments before marrying Holly Ramsay’

ROWS, VOWS & WOWS

Peaty’s dad ‘told he could attend wedding but would have to sit at back’

The family was split last month after Caroline was not included at Holly’s hen do at the swanky Soho Farmhouse, Oxfordshire, and was subsequently uninvited from the wedding.

Holly’s mum Tana and close pal Victoria Beckham were both in attendance at the girly get together near to the Beckhams’ country home.

Things escalated when Holly later called cops after Adam’s brother James allegedly made threats via text while Adam was on his stag do.

We reported last night how Adam had infuriated dad Mark with his church ultimatum.

It was in stark contrast to Adam’s sister Bethany, who was a maid of honour.

Our source said: “It was a difficult day for Caroline and Mark, so the family spent the evening together.

“Caroline got upset as soon as she saw the photographs from the wedding.

“For him to turn around and tell Beth that his dad could come and sit at the back of the church is awful.

“Mark was told he could sit behind plus-ones — who Adam has probably never even seen or spoken to.”

Meanwhile celeb guests like TV presenter Dan Walker, chef Marcus Wareing and the Beckhams arrived to much fanfare.

Adam reportedly received a stinging text from his estranged aunt Louise just moments before walking down the aisle, according to the Daily Mail.

She is said to have let him know her feelings with full force, telling him “shame on you both”.

Her text allegedly read: “I hope you never suffer the depth of pain you have put your mother through and despite it all she loves you still. Shame on you both. Shame.

“Remember on this, your happiest day, and on each anniversary of your happiest day, that you hurt your mum so deeply her soul screams.”

The sentiments were echoed by other family members, with Adam’s great aunt Janet, 73, telling the publication: “I just feel so sorry for Caroline.

“I can’t believe he’s done this to his mother who’s done so much for him from an early age. To be treated like this is not kind.”

The star’s swimming coach Melanie Marshall stepped in to deliver a reception speech, in place of his brothers.

Proud dad Gordon walked his daughter down the aisle. Mum Tana gave a reading.

Holly arrived nearly 30 minutes late, wearing a bridal cape over her Christmas-themed dress.

A large crowd of onlookers cheered the couple as they emerged before the pair were whisked off in a black Rolls-Royce to the reception at plush Kin House in Kington Langley, Wilts.

The maids of honour wore dresses designed by Victoria in red, while Tana wore a similar style dress in green.

Security was tight, with guests wearing wristbands embossed with H&A.

One invitee said: “It was a lovely day, but with the wristband it felt more like a hospital appointment.”

Guests were barred from taking snaps of the service.

Adam’s mum had intended to watch from the street, despite being disinvited, but decided against it.

Lift the spirits and venture into nature by planning a unique late winter or spring getaway for the family – uncover the delights the stunning UK countryside has to offer from the Lake District to the Jurassic Coast

At around this time of year, a relaxing hotel stay with the family could be just the thing to give us a lift amid the winter gloom. Or maybe your thoughts have already turned to spring, when the family will be ready for a break.

There’s nothing better to blow away the cobwebs of the cooler months than getting out into nature and letting the kids run or swim free while the adults in the family can enjoy a relaxing spa or indulge in some fine-dining cuisine.

As the new Good Hotel Guide goes live online, we asked their team to suggest five great family-friendly hotels. There’s something to delight all ages with stays in star-gazing treehouses, sea views of a beach where you can go dolphin-spotting, and even a hotel with a lakeside ice rink. Here are their top picks.

Toddlers up to age three stay for free in their parents’ room at this resort on the 500-acre Farncombe Estate in Cotswold countryside above photogenic Broadway. Centred on a Scandi-style lodge, with accommodation scattered over the hillside, it comprises rooms and suites in a former coach house, stables and other buildings, as well as adults-only shepherds’ huts and three ‘treehouses’ with bunks for kids aged up to 12.

Tiny tots will like the outdoor play area, but this is more a destination to appeal to adventurous older children, with paid-for activities for those aged 12 and upwards, including archery and axe-throwing. Falconry is open to all from age four; wine tastings are for adults only, and duck herding is for large groups.

The rooms are country chic, with a soothing pale palette, all with an espresso machine, smart TV, Temple Spa toiletries. Some have a private terrace with views over the Vale of Evesham, and a few interconnect. A bar/lounge menu provides a casual dining option, with burgers, hot dogs, salads and light bites. For more sophisticated dining, Hook by Martin Burge has a fairly wide-ranging menu, strong on seafood, with such options as haddock schnitzel with smoked anchovies, sauce gribiche and seaweed fries alongside steak bèarnaise with roasties. A children’s menu, vegan dishes and Sunday roast beef should keep everyone happy.

And if raptors, axes and bows, and arrows aren’t your thing, you can borrow maps from the boot room and explore, or, when the sun shines, bag a deckchair beside a small lake.

B&B doubles from £220, family suites from £295, rooms with terrace from £275, extra bed for child 3-16 years £60.

Close to and a world away from Salcombe, lapped by gently rolling National Trust countryside, wildflower bejewelled and ablaze with gorse in summer, this low-built hotel is the perfect child-friendly, dog-friendly bolthole for an outdoorsy break. Formerly the 10-bedroom Sea View Guest House, unofficial officers’ mess for Bolt Head Airfield, and once famed for its meringue afternoon teas, it has been owned, run and cherished by the Makepeace family since 1978.

The 22 smart-contemporary rooms and suites – all but one at ground level – have glass doors to a patio and were designed to optimise the stunning views. The sheltered beach is one of the loveliest in South Hams, perfect for paddling, sandcastle-building, crabbing, dolphin-spotting. Guests have use of the spa and indoor saltwater swimming pool, a lounge with books and board games.

Activities locally include sea safaris and seal-watching trips. You can order a picnic (crab sandwiches!) and walk the Southwest Coast Path, return for a cream tea (no meringues now), dine in the glass-walled, sea-facing restaurant on such dishes as Fowey mussels with sea herbs and mussel velouté, Dexter beer burger, fish and chips, cauliflower steak with sauternes raisins, cauliflower purée, pickled shallots and romesco sauce. There is a short kids’ menu, and the night’s desserts might include the Pavlova that Audrey Hepburn declared ‘divine’ when she visited in 1987. Mobile coverage here is limited, so it’s a detox for screen-addicted teens – no Facetime, just pure quality time.

Family rooms from £211.50 (continental breakfast; cooked breakfast £15).

Kids stay free when sharing with parents at this Jacobean manor house in 14-acre grounds amid the Wiltshire countryside, part of the small Luxury Family Hotels collection. Everything is geared to making families feel welcome and relaxed, with the Ofsted-registered Four Bears Den, where children aged eight and under enjoy arts and crafts, toys, dressing up and outdoor adventures.

There is a spa, indoor pool and, in summer, a heated outdoor pool, a library with pool table, air hockey and table football, the Green Fingers gardening club in the walled garden with its resident ducks and hens. Organised activities include Cooking with Chef, jewellery-making and tropical-animal discovery sessions.

Book a Baby’s First Break package and they’ll provide a Bugaboo cot and giraffe highchair and a baby monitor. With all the family bases covered, the hotel is not short on the promised luxury, with comfy lounges, beautifully presented bedrooms, indulgent spa treatments and adults-only swim times.

You can order a cream tea in the garden, dine informally in the Orangery, or in either of two dining rooms, one dog friendly, from a menu of steaks, burger, fish and chips, maybe lentil dahl, garden pumpkin, chickpea, smoked onion and coriander, or sea trout with crushed potato and fennel. Literary buffs should check out also, sister properties Fowey Hall, Cornwall, believed to have been Kenneth Graham’s model for Toad Hall, and Moonfleet Manor, Dorset, which inspired John Meade Faulkner’s 1898 novel of shipwrecks and smuggling, Moonfleet.

B&B family rooms for around £246.

‘A very strange stranger it must be who does not see the charms in the immediate environs of Lyme,’ wrote Jane Austen in Persuasion. Like Austen, Kathryn Haskins spent happy family holidays in this historic resort on Dorset’s Jurassic Coast. In fact, her parents were so smitten with its charms that, in 1982, they bought Lyme’s landmark hotel. A Georgian house built for the Earl and Countess of Poulett, it is now owned by Kathryn, who brings to it her experience of working in hotels around the world, and who can personally vouch for its appeal to a child.

The ambience is informal, the interiors achieving a kind of unshowy chic without upstaging the glorious sea views. Some larger bedrooms can sleep four, or families might take one of two self-catering apartments, each big enough for six. Apartment guests have access to all hotel facilities, and menu items can be delivered by room service.

In the light-filled Ammonite Restaurant, typical dishes include pan-fried halibut, fried polenta, cauliflower puree, cranberry gel; ribeye steak and chips; gnocchi. ‘It’s like staying in a comfy country-house hotel,’ says Guide readers, all of whom have particularly warm words for the staff. And, since family is not just about children, a word of praise for the ‘personal touches’ that really made the stay for one reader and her parents on their Golden Wedding anniversary. Ask for a packed lunch and spend the day fossil hunting, walking the coastal paths, swimming, sailing, windsurfing, and return with an appetite for afternoon tea.

B&B large doubles from £330, cots £8, extra bed for a child £44.

There is a real Swallows and Amazons vibe at this dog-friendly new lifestyle resort, the frumpy old Rampsbeck Hotel reinvented as a cool destination. As well as fabulously stylish bedrooms and suites, some for families, in the original Georgian house and modern wings, there is a two-bedroom treehouse with decking and outdoor bath, and shepherds’ huts, some with an extra bunk room, all with a log burner and star-gazing roof.

This is a place that revels in the landscape and in its lakeside situation, where days might be spent wild swimming, paddleboarding, hiking and fell walking. Right now, too, because it’s winter, there’s even a lakeshore ice rink. Other facilities include a 20metre indoor pool, outdoor hot tub, cardio and treatment rooms. The Ofsted-registered Kids’ Zone encourages learning through play: staff take the youngsters outside as much as possible to follow animal footprints, build campfire and go on nature hunts with ‘bingo’ sheets for outdoor I-Spy.

In the fine-dining Rampsbeck Restaurant, menus feature such locally sourced dishes as roast Cartmel Valley venison haunch, caramelised celeriac puree, savoy cabbage, Anna potato, pickled walnut ketchup, venison samosa, juniper sauce (from the children’s menu maybe garden patch soup, mac and cheese, chocolate brownie). There is more casual dining in the Living Space (steak and fries, rice bowls, wraps and burgers), woodfired pizzas in the Glasshouse by the vegetable garden, and hearty pub grub at sister venture The Brackenrigg.

B&B doubles, Stay and Skate from £240, family room from around £340, extra bed for age 3-plus 25% of double room price.