Passengers returning from holiday to Gatwick face being stranded at the airport after a rogue car parking company went bust.

The prospect of driving their vehicles home turned into a nightmare for holidaymakers after hundreds of keys were reportedly mixed together and dumped in a box by Pink Meet and Greet parking operators.

There were fears yesterday that some cars were missing as they had been parked on roads and at industrial estates, rather than in secure facilities as the company had claimed.

The airport was plunged into mayhem as officials scrambled to reunite dozens of cars with their keys, and their owners, after the sudden closure of the firm.

The company ceased trading after a BBC Watchdog investigation showed its staff racing a customer’s car at more than 100mph.

A Gatwick source said that Pink Meet and Greet staff had dumped a big box of mixed customer car keys with the British Airport Authority on Friday night.

“They aren’t sure which keys go with each car. In fact, they don’t even know where the cars were parked,” the source said. “There are hundreds of cars involved. It’s a real headache.”

Although Pink Meet and Greet told customers that their cars were kept in a secure compound near the airport, the Watchdog inquiry showed vehicles parked on industrial estates, on the side of busy roads, at supermarkets and even in fields.

The source said: “The valet parkers were using people’s cars to go for races down the street and leaving them in a residential area and a builder’s yard in nearby Horsham.

“We don’t know when holidaymakers will turn up. There is going to be chaos.”

A BAA spokesman said that the authority was working to ensure that 34 vehicles left at Pink Meet and Greet’s former base in Horsham were returned to their owners. He said that the cars would be kept in a secure parking area at the airport until the owners returned.

Pink Meet and Greet’s website said that the company had “seized” (sic) trading, while a man answering its emergency phone line said that the company was working with police and trading standards officers.

Furious former customers posted their horror stories on a consumer website.

“Jimjim33”, from Bracknell, claimed that his car had suffered £3,000 worth of damage when it was left with Pink. “The car was used while we were away. We found food all over the back seat,” he wrote.

Another customer, from Bath, said that her car had clearly been used all week while she was away. “The back seats had been unfolded, they’d clocked up 50 miles, plus, it stank of smoke and there were empty sandwich wrappings lying on the floor.”

Police said that they could not investigate the matter unless they received an official complaint.

The car parking company NCP was called in to help to return dumped cars to their rightful owners. Tim Cowen, its spokesman, said: “Unlicensed operators like this give the whole industry a bad name.”

Park and fly

32m passengers at Gatwick each year

29,500 long-stay parking spaces at or near to the airport

£40 cost of a weeks' parking with Pink Meet and Greet