A holiday maker has had a sour end to two trips this year after finding her luggage had been broken into and damaged upon her return.

Kate Harmond Allan, of Northwood Avenue, Saltdean, was collecting her luggage at Gatwick following a trip for her wedding anniversary but found someone had broken into her suitcase and stolen her iPad mini when she picked up her luggage.

When Mrs Allan returned from another trip on November 15, she found a boot print stamped in the middle of her brand new case which caused the sip to become misaligned.

Mrs Harmond Allan said: “You shouldn’t have to worry when you put it in there as you’ve paid a lot of money for the case to be stowed.

“I think there’s completely the wrong attitude with luggage at airports.

“It does really, really hack me off – you can’t take all your good clothes in your hand luggage.”

After reporting the matter to Sussex Police Mrs Allan was able to obtain a crime number and claim for her stolen belongings through her insurance company.

However, she said she was not able to get a response to her damaged suitcase as nobody seemed to take her complaint seriously.

A spokesman for Gatwick Airport said all airlines employ a handling agent to manage their ground handling and it’s the airline’s handling agent who is responsible for all baggage movements.

“There are three main handling agents at Gatwick – Menzies, Swissport and Servisair,” he added.

“Gatwick expects all handling agents to handle baggage with care and we address any concerns we may have at our daily airport meeting, which all handling agents attend.

“If a passenger finds their luggage is damaged, they must report this to Global Baggage Solutions in our Baggage Reclaim areas.

"This is a clearly marked area where passengers can report the damage and get a Property Irregularity Report (PIR).

"Once the passenger has obtained the PIR they can contact their airline and pursue a claim for any damage.

“If a passenger doesn’t notice until they are home, they need to contact their airline directly to resolve the matter.”