On Tuesday night, Angus Kennedy and his family, who had been conned out of the best part of 5,000 pounds by a Majorca-based website (dreamvillasspain.com), were preparing to "throw in the towel and fly home to the UK".
However, after a positive response from the local community, yesterday morning Angus contacted the Bulletin to report that his wife Sophie and five children had found a lovely villa on the coast in Cala Ratjada and were turning what was a nightmare start to their first family holiday in Majorca into an Easter dream.
Renting the new villa, after having spent a night in a house on the top of a hill near Montuiri with no heating, wifi or functioning kitchen, has increased the cost of the holiday by at least another 2,000 pounds, but yesterday they were on the beach and enjoying the sunshine while the local authorities were threatening to slap the bogus website, offering luxury rental properties around the world, with a 40,000 euro fine. The tourism ministry has taken the matter extremely seriously as have the authorities in the UK, and further action could be coming from London.
Before leaving the island, Angus intends to report the matter to the police to make sure that the website is shut down so no one else can fall victim to similar online scams.