Ladbrokes bans his 14,000 staff from flying with BA after airline tries to bump his daughter off a flight

The boss of Ladbrokes has stopped his firm's 14,000 workers taking business flights with BA after it tried to bump his 14-year-old daughter and her friend off a flight from Barbados.

Chris Bell, the bookmaker's chief executive, was travelling with the two schoolchildren on a return flight to Gatwick when they were told, after checking in their luggage, there was no room for the girls.

BA workers even offered the teenagers £250 if they stayed on in the Caribbean which Mr Bell flatly refused and insisted he could not abandon the 14-year-olds.

The airline eventually allowed the trio to travel together.

The bookmaker's boss told of his experience after initially phoning BA to complain.

"Some bird rang up from a call centre and offered the two girls £20 vouchers each at the corporate shop. I said: 'What do you expect them to buy with that  -  a teddy bear'?", he told the Telegraph newspaper.

"Only after eight calls have we been offered two £250 vouchers and one, one-way upgrade. It's like playing the national lottery.

"The thing is I always fly BA. As a company we must be spending a few million a year. I spend around £100,000 a year myself."

The businessman, a gold card member, also complained directly to BA chief executive Willie Walsh.

He told him that Ladbrokes workers were dissatisfied with the airline after experiencing a series of problems, including the fiasco surrounding the opening of Terminal 5.

Ladbrokes spends more than £2million with BA every year but Mr Bell has now ordered its travel agent only to use the airline if no other flights are available.

The Yorkshireman took over the running of Ladbrokes three years ago and prior to joining the bookmakers he held a number of senior positions with Allied Domecq.

A BA spokesman said the firm was "very sorry" that Mr Bell felt he could not fly with the flag carrier again. She added that Mr Walsh had recently written to Mr Bell.

The news of his decision will compound the woes faced by the airline and its boss since the fiasco over moving to Terminal 5.

It has emerged that thousand of business class travellers shunned British Airways and Heathrow following the move.

High-spending passengers preferred rival airports and airlines for long-haul flights after the botched opening of BA's £4.3billion terminal.

The companies profiting from Heathrow's woes were European airlines offering alternative routes via hubs such as Frankfurt, Paris and Amsterdam, and City Airport — which saw a year-on-year rise in passengers of 30 per cent last month.

Heathrow's flagship terminal opened on March 27 with baggage handling problems that led to more than 20,000 lost bags and 430 cancelled flights, leaving thousands stranded.

Following this, chief executive Walsh said he had turned down a £700,000 bonus.

Bets are off: Ladbroke's 14,000 staff have been stopped from taking business flights with British Airways