A HALESOWEN bride-to-be is 'heartbroken' after her dream £20k wedding was left in tatters with the Thomas Cook collapse.

Ruth Morse, of Dogkennel Lane, was due to marry her partner Jordan Miller in Cyprus on October 8.

She had planned her dream day for the last two years and booked the entire wedding, including the venue, decorations, cake and a private bar through Thomas Cook.

The news of the travel giant's collapse has hit Ruth especially hard as she was looking forward to a happy event for her family after they were hit by tragedy when her brother Ben Morse was murdered in 2017.

Ruth, aged 34, said: "I feel I’m being massively kicked in the stomach - after Ben this was the one thing keeping me going.. two years of planning and stress for a day our family could look forward to.

"I'm just gutted and heartbroken.

"It's nothing compared to what we have been through, but it's heartache all over again.

"I feel like there's a bit of a black cloud over our family."

Ruth's daughter Evie, aged nine, was set to be bridesmaid and the couple's son Isaac, aged four, was to be a pageboy.

Halesowen News:

And to make matters worse out of 44 guests due to attend around 25 booked their flights and accommodation through the travel agent which this morning announced it had folded with all future holidays cancelled, affecting the travel plans of millions of people.

Self-employed cleaner Ruth said herself and Jordan, aged 35, who works for BT, were hoping to get their money back through ATOL, but are not sure about things they bought through third parties through Thomas Cook, like the decorations.

She said: "Thomas Cook have not been in contact.

"We have got a few ideas, my maid of honour phoned the hotel and they said the wedding is still booked with them but has not been paid for - it might be a case of seeing if we can borrow the money or pull it together somehow but I just don't know - I go from being hopeful to just thinking it's not going to happen.

"The guests who hadn't booked through Thomas Cook have still got to go, then the ones who had booked through Thomas Cook might not be able to afford to book with another company and I don't want to go ahead with the wedding if just one person can't make it.

"We had planned a celebration party at Benjamin's in Halesowen in November and some people suggested we could turn that into a wedding, but all the outfits we have bought are for a summer wedding."

Ruth's brother Ben, who was a staunch Arsenal fan, died aged 36. He was the victim of an intentional hit-and-run.

The Ben Morse Foundation charity was set up in Ben's memory to support local causes, community projects and those in need of help.

Nidal Alboraiki was jailed for life in October 2017 and will serve a minimum of 15 years for his murder.

Thomas Cook announced today that it had ceased trading after failing to secure a last-ditch rescue deal, leaving an estimated 150,000 Britons abroad awaiting repatriation.

Holidaymakers have been told that those with return flights within the next two weeks, will qualify for a free flight home. All future flights and holidays have been cancelled.