The troubled holiday operator MyTravel has said it has "no evidence" that people are pulling out of holidays they have booked with the firm.

Fears had grown that, following MyTravel's recent financial problems, customers who had booked holidays under a deferred deposit promotion change their plans and switch to rival operators.

Shares in MyTravel have plunged this year after three profit warnings in five months.

The company has also scrapped its dividend and warned of accounting problems.

MyTravel 'pleased'

Under the promotion, MyTravel allowed people to book holidays without paying any deposit.

Customers were asked to pay either �50 or �110, depending on whether they bought an economy or premium holiday, by 15 November.

"Deposits have been collected in accordance with the company's expectations," a company spokeswoman said.

"There is no evidence of cancellations and the company is pleased," she added.

MyTravel did not say how many customers had paid their deposits.

Bid rumours

On Thursday, shares in MyTravel jumped by more than 30% on rumours that the private equity group 3i was interested in either taking a stake in or making a bid for the business.

MyTravel's shares fell back 1.25 pence to close at 18.25p on Friday. In January, the shares hit a high for the year of 283.5p.