MOTHER Wendy Smith says using a taxi to the airport when the family went on holiday to avoid the stress of driving there, turned out to be a mistake because of a number of errors by the company.

MOTHER Wendy Smith says using a taxi to the airport when the family went on holiday to avoid the stress of driving there, turned out to be a mistake because of a number of errors by the company.

Mrs Smith, 29, from Court Lawns, Tylers Green, was looking forward to a week-long holiday with her family in Rhodes, Greece, and decided a taxi would be the most convenient way to take herself, husband Kevin, their 14-month-old son Harry and Kevin's mother Andrea to Gatwick.

After trying several companies, Mrs Smith was told by Beaconsfield-based Elite Executive Cars that it could accommodate the three adults, a small child, their luggage and provide a car seat for Harry.

When they were ready to fly out on August 23, the taxi that turned up was too small, says Mrs Smith. Initially they had been told the outward journey would cost £57 but that was raised to £80 when the firm had to supply a minibus.

When that arrived it did not have a child seat and the family had to take their own safety chair.

Mrs Smith said: 'Some firms I phoned had the capacity but did not supply the car seat and that was something we wanted to save a bit of hassle.'

Before their trip home from the Aegean, Mrs Smith was so concerned about the taxi journey home that she called the firm from Greece to organise their trip from the airport. She was told the taxi would be large enough and would have a child seat.

When the family landed at Gatwick they found the seat was too small for Harry and that he would need to risk travelling with an adult seat belt.

Mrs Smith said: 'We felt totally on edge for the whole journey. We were both so upset and annoyed by what happened. They weren't the cheapest firm but we wanted to make sure Harry would be safe.'

Elite's managing director Tahir Bashir said: 'We made a mistake, and we accept that, but a lot of messages failed to get passed on through computer failure.'

He said the child's seat was misplaced before the return journey and that the firm had refunded the £23 extra the couple were charged for the minibus.