The cruise on the Van Gogh is due to start on 4 January

Travelscope Holiday's cruise on the MV Van Gogh, due to leave Falmouth on 4 January, was under threat after the firm went into administration.

But travel organisation Abta (the Association of British Travel Agents) has arranged for the ship to sail.

Gloucestershire-based Travelscope went into administration just before Christmas.

The company was covered by Abta bond and the Civil Aviation Authority's Air Travel Organisers' Licensing (ATOL), meaning those who had travelled abroad with Travelscope were able to continue their holiday.

Customers who had booked future trips were also told they would receive full refunds.

Abta spokesman Sean Tipton said: "We don't normally arrange for trips to go ahead after a company ceases trading and all the people on the cruise would have been refunded anyway.

"But we decided that as Travelscope did not own the ship involved and this was a very special world cruise that we would - just this once - make plans for the holiday to go ahead."

The 460 passengers on the Dutch-owned Van Gogh will be visit the Caribbean, Ecuador, Tahiti, New Zealand, Sydney, Mauritius, Cape Town and Madeira.