As the holiday season starts its tentative gyrations towards summer, early-start holidaymakers will soon be fighting off swarms of holiday club touts looking for the sweet sell.

But beware of becoming caught in the trap, warns the consumers' body Which?, saying that holiday club members are throwing away thousands of pounds on unavailable or even non-existent accommodation.

A holiday club tout who had worked on the Costa del Sol for four years told of tricks of the trade, such as using scratchcards to lure unwary holidaymakers to sales presentations. Tourists can end up parting with as much as £15,000 — with no legal protection if the club goes bust or disappears.

"Brits don't like to complain or appear rude, even under pressure", he said. "I've seen couples sit there for six hours. Tired and confused, they end up signing away thousands of pounds just to get the hell out of there."

Holiday clubs sprang up in the late 1990s to take advantage of loopholes in timeshare laws. Prospective members are promised cheap holidays all over the world, using empty timeshare accommodation.

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is currently investigating 40 holiday clubs, having received 341 complaints or enquiries in the last year. The Timeshare Consumers' Association receives over 1,000 complaints a year from dissatisfied holiday club members.

Which? editor, Malcolm Coles says, "Most holiday clubs are a waste of money. Even if you are lucky enough to get some of the holidays promised, you could probably have booked them more cheaply from traditional brochures. If you are offered a scratchcard on your next holiday, buy a lottery ticket instead — you've got more chance of hitting the jackpot."

Which? has called for support from the UK Government, MEPs and European Commission to extend the Timeshare Directive to cover holiday clubs. This would give buyers a minimum 10-day cooling off period in which no deposits can be paid.