MORE than 300 passengers hit out today after their Canary Islands holiday was cancelled following a nightmare 51-hour flight delay.

They were forced to wait more than two days before being told their flight from Prestwick to Gran Canaria had been scrapped. Hundreds more Scots have been stranded in the Canary Islands with no prospect of returning home.

They have been stuck on Gran Canaria since Saturday, when Seguro Holidays' only charter plane developed a major technical problem and was grounded.

A total of 1300 Seguro passengers faced huge delays after the company was forced to cancel all flights to and from the Ayrshire airport over the weekend.

Hundreds had checked in early today for their 8am flight to Gran Canaria, rescheduled from 7am on Saturday.

But there were angry scenes when it was delayed for another two hours - then cancelled.

Mick Brady, 46, had booked a two-week break with wife Dianne, 43, and kids Conor, 13, and Olivia, eight. He said: "It was total chaos when they broke the news.

"We've wasted two days. They checked in our bags this morning and gave the impression everything was OK.

"It is sickening. Police had to warn some passengers to calm down."

Another holidaymaker said: "It's been an absolute shambles. Our holiday has been ruined."

Tour operator Seguro has managed to charter replacement planes for some routes, and flights left for Faro and Alicante today. The Alicante planes will bring back passengers stranded there for 24 hours.

But the company has not managed to find a plane to get to Las Palmas. The 330 passengers who were due to jet out on Saturday have been given a refund for their cancelled holiday.

The plane was also supposed to bring back holidaymakers from the island.

Richard Burke, managing director of Seguro, said today: "We are not sure what is happening about the people in Las Palmas at the moment. We are doing all we can to get them home.

"Those staying in self-catering accommodation have been given money for food and drink and our reps are visiting them regularly."

Seguro's own plane, chartered from another company, has had its licence suspended due to a problem with its navigation system. The firm is confident replacements will be found allowing flights to Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Majorca later this week.

Mr Burke added: "It is with our deepest regret that we had to cancel the flights to Las Palmas, but it is something that we can't control, as it is a technical fault with the plane."

Meanwhile, 200 holidaymakers were stuck in Majorca for up to 17 hours when two FlyGlobespan flights to Glasgow were delayed.