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Latest holiday advice: Travel Republic court case ruling: Thomson and First Choice have strongly criticised a ruling which cleared Travel Republic of alleged breaches of ATOL regulations.

All 19 charges against the Travel Republic were dropped following a three week hearing at Statford magistrates court.

But Christian Cull, communications director for Thomson and First Choice Holidays responded by saying:

“Travel Republic insist they don’t sell packages, but if something looks like a duck, waddles like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it’s a duck.

“We are incredibly disappointed that the courts have not recognised this.

The Association of ATOL Companies described the decision as a major step backwards in the battle for consumer protection.

“Regrettably this opens the door to more consumers wrongly believing they are protected when they are not.

Consumers should remember that if they are booking a holiday or travel arrangements which are not ATOL protected, the prudent thing is to book using a credit card or visa debit card at all times.

AAC legal advisor Alan Bowen added: “For AAC members this is a major opportunity to emphasise that they always protect package holiday sales through the ATOL scheme.

“The AAC has always strongly supported the view that customers should be protected by an ATOL licence when buying an air based holiday but this outcome simply adds to the confusion.

“Many customers of failed companies such as the XL Group last year and Freedom Direct in 2009 thought they had protection when in fact they didn’t’