DESPERATE travellers have been forced to shell out hundreds of pounds on taxi fares because of the UK airspace restrictions.

One party of seven paid Nottingham Cars about £1,250 to pick them up from Paris on Friday.

The travellers have been forced into the action after the volcanic ash cloud from Iceland led to flights being grounded. A spokesman for Nottingham Cars, which is based on Radford, said the Paris fare included the cost of ferry travel.

He said: "The driver went on Friday and he didn't get back until the next day."

DG Private hire has had a number of requests to drive travellers to ferry ports, including Dover and Holyhead, but said the long-haul trips wouldn't compensate drivers for the loss of airport transfer revenue.

He said: "Drivers will feel the pinch a little bit, especially now the holiday season is starting to kick in."

Bulwell-based Skills Holidays yesterday sent out a fleet of coaches to mainland Europe to help bring back stranded UK residents. Five vehicles headed to Rimes, France, with two others running a shuttle service between London, Paris and Amsterdam on behalf of European coach tour operator Eurolines.

Managing director Nigel Skill said he expected the first coach to arrive back at the depot later today.

He said: "We had the vehicles available and these people need to get home somehow so we thought we'd help."

Among the Notts people stranded abroad is Nottingham City Council deputy leader Graham Chapman, who is on a research trip with his wife in Canada.

"It was only supposed to be for a week," said Coun Chapman, who added he was paying for his stay.

"I'm stuck in a hotel room whilst my wife is at the University of Moncton."

Brian Throup, 59, of Draycott, said his wife, Lynne, 53, has been stranded in Lisbon after a flight from Brazil.

Mr Throup said his wife had clubbed together with three other English people and drove a hire car to Santander in Spain, where they were trying to get a ferry.

"They were told the first ferry available was a week on Thursday. It is chaos," he said.

"But my wife has since called me and said one of the guys in their party has had a dual heart bypass and he has run out of medication, so the ferry people have allowed them to get on the ferry today."

Video conferencing firm Questmark is offering companies free use of its facilities in Long Eaton to help reduce the impact of the flight ban on local businesses.

Contact Joanne Rix on 0115 983 7700.

Flights from East Midlands Airport were expected to resume by noon today.