TRAVEL firms are pulling out of Tunisia as a holiday destination after the British government warned against all but essential travel there amid fears of a fresh terror attack.
The Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) has advised British tourists to leave the country following intelligence that a terrorist attack is "highly likely".
Thomson and First Choice immediately cancelled all outbound flights to Tunisia for the summer season running up to and including October 31.
The firm does not currently have any customers in Tunisia but "as a precautionary measure we have taken the decision to repatriate all British Thomson and First Choice staff currently working in Tunisia within the next 24 hours," a spokesman said.
All 30 of the Britons who were killed in the beach massacre in Sousse were Thomson and First Choice customers. Three Irish citizens were also killed in the gun attack.
Thomas Cook UK & Ireland cancelled all future bookings to Tunisia up to the same date. A spokesman said it will be bringing all of its customers back to the UK "as soon as we can".
The spokesman added: "The safety and well-being of our customers is our primary concern. As always, we have been closely following the advice from the FCO and local authorities to monitor the situation in Tunisia. In response to the recent change in FCO advice we have taken this decision to bring all Thomas Cook customers back to the UK as soon as we can using third party carriers and on our 10 scheduled flights over the weekend.
"Thomas Cook is strongly advising its guests in the country to return on these flights. We are also sending our specialist assistance teams to Tunisia to offer customers additional support in resort.
"We are committed to doing everything we can to support our guests in Tunisia at this time and will work to bring them back to the UK safely and as soon as possible."
British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond told the BBC: "While we do not have any information suggesting a specific or imminent threat, since the attack in Sousse the intelligence and threat picture has developed considerably leading us to the view that a further terrorist attack is highly likely."
UK authorities have been working with their Tunisian counterparts since the beach massacre, but despite increased security since the shootings the Government said the extra measures did not go far enough.
In updated travel advice, the Foreign Office said: "Since the attack in Sousse, we have been working closely with the Tunisian authorities to investigate the attack and the wider threat from terrorist groups in Tunisia.
"Although we have had good co-operation from the Tunisian government, including putting in place additional security measures, the intelligence and threat picture has developed considerably, reinforcing our view that a further terrorist attack is highly likely.
"On balance, we do not believe the mitigation measures in place provide adequate protection for British tourists in Tunisia at the present time and we have therefore changed our travel advice accordingly."
Holidaymakers should contact their tour operators about returning to Britain and independent travellers should make their own arrangements to leave, the FCO said.
Between 2,500-3,000 British tourists are believed to be in Tunisia and around 300 independent travellers.
