The estimated total bill to taxpayers for responding to the collapse of Thomas Cook is at least £156 million, a new National Audit Office report has found.

Cambridge MP Daniel Zeichner has said he believes that more could have been done to prevent the collapse of the well-loved travel company which had its headquarters in Peterborough.

Mr Zeichner said: “At the time the Prime Minister warned that state intervention risked creating a “moral hazard” but it is clear it was just an ideological aversion to helping workers.

“In emergencies they find cash, but it is clear they didn’t think saving a cornerstone of the British high street mattered. If the government had intervened earlier it could have stabilised the situation. Instead they sat back and did nothing, costing the public purse and allowing thousands of people to lose their jobs.”