Cameron under fire over luxury yacht holiday on Turkish Riviera... just weeks after his bucket-and-spade holiday in Cornwall

Just weeks after praising the virtues of holidaying in Britain during the credit crunch, David Cameron has enjoyed a luxury holiday aboard a £21,000-a-week yacht in Turkey.

The Tory leader joined 74 friends and family for a week-long tour of the Turkish Riviera which ended yesterday.

The party lapped up the sun and drank wine on seven traditional 'gulet' boats with 20ft high white sales. Each boat had its own personal chef, captain and two crew.

But Cameron has been criticised over the holiday - his second in the past month  - following his 'bucket-and-spade' break on a Cornwall beach where he invited the media to take photos of him and his wife Samantha.

At the time, the break was dubbed an opportunistic attempt by Cameron to show himself as a humble stay-at-home politician who had tightened his belt and gone on holiday in Britain in the wake of the credit crunch.

Last night former Europe Minister Denis MacShane said Mr Cameron had duped the electorate.

The Labour MP for Rotherham told the Sunday Mirror: 'When the vast majority of hard-working British people are not if they can afford one holiday a year, here is 'Two-vacation' Cameron showing, as long as you are super-rich, you can forget the day job.

'Cameron tries to pretend he goes on bucket-and-spade holidays - but in reality he goes sailing in the lap of luxury with his rich friends.'

The 41-year-old flew to Turkey last Saturday before taking a private jet to nearby Georgia where he posed for photo call with Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili in Tbilisi.

But by Sunday morning he, Samantha, 37, and their children had joined the sailing party off the Fethiye peninsula to celebrate the 60th birthday of his mother-in-law Viscountess Astor.

Cameron snuggles up to wife Samantha on the Cornish beach last month. This holiday was a far cry from his latest jaunt in the Turkish Riviera

Margaret Churcher, 62, on holiday from Leicester with her daughter and son-in-law said the armada of seven boats, which sailed majestically out of Gocek harbor, looked' impressive'.

She told the Sunday Mirror: 'They were really impressive - they took up the whole bay as they sailed out. Those are beautiful boats but I'll have to keep dreaming - our tiny sailing boat would fit in one of their cabins.'

Cameron's ship could be described as a floating mini-palace. It comes complete with two master bedrooms, two double bedrooms and a separate room with two single beds for children.

The five-star yacht also boasts a 70 horse-power engine, sat nav, DVD players, air conditioning, wireless internet, washing machine, dishwasher and ice-maker.

A spokesman for Cameron said: 'David Cameron has been completely open about his plans to join his mother-in-law's birthday celebrations in Turkey.

'His office confirmed the trip on July 2 and he did so himself at his monthly press conference.'