A family owned bus and coach company that transports war veterans to the D-day landing sites in France fell into administration yesterday, sparking almost 90 job losses and leaving about 1,000 ticket holders in the lurch.

Staff at Hatts Coaches, which has been owned by the Hillier family since 1928, were told that the company had brought in administrators at FRP Advisory after running out of cash.

Hatts, which has sites in Salisbury, Worton and Foxham in Wiltshire, had been operating day trips to destinations in Britain and is popular among pensioners. Its fourth-generation family owners have been struggling for weeks to refinance the business.

It operated a fleet of 90 buses and coaches and provided the coach service for Bath Rugby team, a park-and-ride service on the outskirts of Salisbury city centre and trips to and from Dauntsey’s, the private school.

The administration also affected Bodmans Coaches, which employs 13 people, and Hatts’ direct mail order company, HQT.

However, with the business not thought to be a member of the Association of British Travel Agents or to have travel bonds, customers with pre-booked tickets are unlikely to be able to claim back their money. Those who booked using a credit or bank card should be able to obtain a refund from their provider, the administrators said.

Andrew Sheridan, an FRP partner and joint administrator, said: “The businesses simply ran out of cash. We are acutely aware of the distress and hardship many holidaymakers and day trippers will be suffering right now, particularly as so many of these are of an ‘older generation’.

“Our priority right now is to contact and provide dedicated helpline support for those who have paid for holidays, day trips and other private hire with Hatts.”

FRP said that it would continue to operate the park-and-ride in Salisbury and the Pewsey Vale Connect 2 Bus service with co-operation from Wiltshire County Council while it seeks a new owner. At present that has safeguarded 32 jobs.

The rest of the business has had to stop trading immediately and 89 staff have been made redundant.

The helpline number is 0800 4704633.