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The boss of a travel business which specialises in emergency repatriation services said they have helped hundreds of people get home during the global lockdown.

Meon Valley Travel Group has organised the repatriation of hundreds of people back to the º£½ÇÊÓƵ, Australia, the United States, Germany, France and other countries since the pandemic hit.

The business, which also deals with business trips, holidays and emergency medical assistance, employs almost 100 people from its head office in Petersfield, Hampshire, and a business travel office in Thurmaston, Leicester.

Managing director James Beagrie said business travel and overseas holidays disappeared overnight when the pandemic hit.

But working with NatWest the company has used the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) to provide it with the working capital to maintain its operations helping repatriate people to their home countries and support customers whose holidays have been cancelled.

Mr Beagrie, who has chaired several sector bodies in a career spanning more than 20 years in the industry, said: “The pandemic has resulted in a significant number of people finding themselves in very difficult situations abroad and away from their homes and families.

“Many are professionals whose employers have sought to repatriate them for safety reasons during the pandemic, while others are sadly in hospital needing to come home.

“The specialist services we provide are vital to helping these people, which is why it was so important we maintained our core operations during lockdown.