Members of a European food and craft market expected in Kingston upon Thames found themselves 230 miles too far north last week because they went to Kingston-upon-Hull by mistake.

The 15 stalls and stall-owners from France, Holland, Belgium and Germany had booked Kingston's Market Place from Friday, June 23, to Sunday, June 25.

The traders, who are part of Cambridgeshire-based market company Euromarkets GB Ltd, had planned a three-day trade of European delights, such as French bread and cheese, Belgian chocolates and continental biscuits.

But because of a computer imputting mistake by a French company director as he transferred information to a new system, the troupe who have visited Kingston upon Thames before believed they were booked for the town in East Yorkshire.

By the time they realised their error on Thursday evening, they had met in France, taken the ferry to the UK and driven up to Kingston-upon-Hull on Humberside, 230 miles north of London.

Manager Brian Newman, who normally handles the bookings but was on holiday at the time, said: "It is a complete and utter cock-up. I am not very happy, and I am very disappointed and sorry for the people who were expecting us."

The Euromarket is genuinely booked in Kingston-upon-Hull in five weeks' time, a fact Mr Newman said should also have raised alarm bells. He added: "You expect some things to happen, such as fires or ferry strikes, but not this."

The market is popular and established in Kingston upon Thames and Mr Newman said some regular customers had asked them to bring certain products over for them last weekend.

Mr Newman, who was in Cyprus with his phone turned off throughout the drama, said the group decided to get back on the ferry and go home, although in hindsight he believes they should have come back to Kingston upon Thames and traded for the last two days.

He said: "They are all really disappointed. The French bread is baked on the premises but there is a problem with the French cheese one of the traders has had to find markets in France to sell his cheese because you can't keep it any longer. He had about £7,000 worth of it."

He said his company itself expects to lose around £5,000 from the mistake, including £1,800 for the full cost of booking Kingston's Market Place.

He said: "I am disappointed about that. I understand they won't have a market there, but thought perhaps they would have been understanding and I could have paid half."

The accommodation in Hull cost them around £400 and a generator was also delivered to Yorkshire although the company waived its hire fee and only charged for delivery.

Mr Newman added: "It certainly won't happen again. We are back in Kingston upon Thames on October 26."

Kingston Council expressed its sympathy for the company, and town centre manager Graham McNally said he was sorry and disappointed but that it was "a case of Riley's Law".

He added: "When I first heard about it I didn't believe it. You don't know whether to laugh or cry for them, can you imagine how it must be for them? But they will be back, and we are making sure we have these markets coming in to get that space used at its best."