I, along with two friends had paid more than usual for a cruise holiday leaving from Rome on 14th August. The Friday before I checked BA website regularly right up to the Sunday and the flights were still OK. We were leaving from Heathrow with BA at 9.15 a.m. We arrived at Heathrow at 5.30 a.m. having been told to arrive early. We were met at the lift doors by a cheerful BA staff who asked us to go and sit outside where there was a huge marquee. Everything was OK as the flight was still on. It was freezing cold and drizzling outside but we knew the problems regarding terrorist threats (or not!) and so in the usual 'British' way we did as we were told and sat outside. We did sit close to the doors to the check-in hall. There was a cheery BA representative with a loud speaker. He told us all to sit and enjoy the free coffee and he will call out the flights that we were able to go and queue to check in. 'Don't ask me about any other flights' he said, 'I only tell you the ones you can go inside for'. Obediently (and stupidly)we did as we were told. At about 8 a.m. our flight was called. We grabbed our cases and headed into the check-in hall. Imagine our surprise when we saw a huge queue. Obviously not everyone had done as they were told and gone outside! Even so, we weren't worried as we thought everything was under control. We were concerned to see only one girl covering the check-in. We queued and queued. Another girl joined the first one so then there were two. When we were about 6 people from the desks the girls suddenly stood up, put FLIGHT CLOSED signs on their desks and walked off! We all gasped in disbelief. We could not believe it, neither could all the people behind us. There were floods of tears, cries of anguish and much anger. We found a BA rep and asked why there had only been two desks open. She said that staff had had to be taken off the desks to help with customer queries. I furiously said that I too was a customer who had a flight! We asked why there were all those people in front of us in the queue...she avoided answering this. We told her we had to catch a boat in Rome and that if we did not we would miss our holiday. She told us to go home! Not satisfied at this we found our Archer's rep. He could not help us except he did contact the boat and we were told we could join it in Sicily the following day. We tried to get on another flight to Rome that morning as the boat did not leave until 4.30 p.m. We were told we could not get any other flight that they were only for people in transit. Eventually BA agreed to put us on a flight the next day leaving Gatwick to Sicily. We had to fund our own transport to Gatwick and then pay for a shuttle bus to and from the hotel and also pay for a hotel. This cost us an extra £140 each not counting the cost of food. We had done everything we were told to do and this was the result. In the future I shall tell them exactly where to go if I am asked to 'sit outside'. We could have caught that plane had we just gone straight into the check-in hall. The fault lay entirely with BA and in turn probably BAA and the Government! Archer's were pathetic regarding what happened to us. We should have been in Rome enjoying food and accommodation already paid for when instead we had to fork out all that extra. It was disgusting and it was complete chaos. Although we started out thinking what a nice man he was on the megaphone we finished up wishing we could kick him to Timbuktu!