TWO teenage girls' dream holiday turned into a nightmare when they were hit by flight chaos at Teesside Airport.

Katherine Shakesheff and friend Hannah Dean, who are both 15 years old, were looking forward to a holiday in Malaysia.

But their flight from Teesside was cancelled at short notice and it was another two days before they were eventually able to catch a connecting flight to Heathrow.

Eventually the pair, who were meeting up with a friend and her parents in Kuala Lumpar, were able to complete their journey, but arrived at their destination four days late.

Katherine's father Kevin Shakesheff, managing director of Middlesbrough shipping company Clarkson Brothers Ltd, has now accused airline British Midland of "sheer incompetence".

Mr Shakesheff, 51, of Hutton Rudby, North Yorkshire, says the airline - which was responsible for the Teesside flight - washed its hands of the situation.

He said: "They did not respond to phone calls or faxes when we were trying to get the girls on another flight.

"At the airport there was not enough staff to help and they did not seem to care.

"We eventually brought the girls home where they stayed and cried for two days.

"They'd also booked and paid a lot of money for a concert in Kuala Lumpar in Saturday night which they missed."

Mr Shakesheff said he had asked British Midland for compensation, but had been told they were not liable for onward delays under the terms and conditions of their tickets.

The girls' flight from Teesside at 7am on Thursday June 28 was cancelled because of technical problems which meant they missed their noon flight the same day from Heathrow.

It was Saturday before they were able to catch a British Midland flight to London where they paid to stay in a hotel for the night, travelling on to Malaysia via Oman the next day.

A British Midland spokeswoman said they had done everything they could to get the girls on the earliest available flight.

She said: "The aircraft was not safe to fly and our staff tried to accommodate as many affected people as they could.

"Obviously we are very sorry if the girls missed the start of their holiday, but our duty was to get them to the destination on their ticket."

Updated: 14.05 Friday, July 13