Barmy Army forced to shell out more for Ashes trip

More than 200 members of the Barmy Army were unexpectedly charged up to £600 ($1240), by Australian hotels for their Ashes trip to Australia last year, despite having already paid Travel and Tours Anywhere Limited (TTAL), a UK-based travel agent. The fans were billed again because TTAL went into liquidation and didn't pay the Australian hotels.

Though he had won an all-expenses paid trip through the Sun newspaper, Richard Smith, an Essex credit manager, had around £590 ($1200) taken out of his account in January. "This has dropped me deep in the smelly stuff," Smith told the Herald Sun. "There's no way in a million years I can afford a holiday to Oz [Australia]."

Another fan was charged around £126 ($256) in June, six months after the completion of the Ashes.

Complaints had been made to Civil Aviation Authority - the UK's aviation regulator - said Paul Burnham, a spokesman of the Barmy Army. "I think it's resolving itself. I think the right thing is being done by everybody but we just need to wait a couple of weeks," Burnham said. "It's not the Aussie hotels' fault, it's not the Barmy Army's fault and it's certainly not the customers' fault. The company we used [TTAL] caused all the problems."