Victims are enticed with promises of exotic discounted holidays

The clubs persuade people to pay large up-front fees to join clubs that promise cheap holidays in the future.

It plans to extend the protection given to timeshare customers to people who join holiday clubs.

The Commission proposes to ban up-front payments, have a 14-day cooling-off period and require better information.

Some people have paid as much as �15,000 for membership and found that they have no guarantees about the dates or quality of their accommodation.

They have also found that they are committed to paying annual subscriptions whether or not they take a holiday and that their only real benefit is access to a website of dubious value.

Unscrupulous clubs tend to approach people while they are on holiday or through a supposed "win" on a scratchcard game, and invite their targets to high-pressure presentations.

Ian McCartney, consumer minister at the UK's Department of Trade and Industry advised people to be very wary of holiday clubs until the new regulations can be adopted.

"Don't sign up during a presentation, don't part with any money or credit card details until you have had time to think things over," he said.