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British Airways passengers have expressed their anger at being unable to get through to the airline following the confusion over cancelled flights.

BA pilots are due to strike on 9, 10 and 27 September, but BA also told customers with tickets booked on other days that their flights were cancelled.

The company admitted on Saturday that it had told some passengers to rebook or get a refund by mistake.

BA said it had received nearly 40,000 calls and was working around the clock.

After initially sending one email informing customers of cancellations, BA then sent a second email to some people saying their flights would go ahead as planned.

But in the second email, passengers were not given a link to automatically rebook onto their original flight, meaning they had to contact BA directly.

In response to one passenger, BA said: "We're extremely sorry that you're having difficulties trying to rearrange your flights. Our teams have been working tirelessly to help as many of our customers as possible, in these unprecedented circumstances."

Some customers who were told their flights were not scrapped after all have been left confused about whether their decision to accept a refund has now been cancelled.

Others have complained that they have been left out of pocket.

Laura Gillespie, 48, from Perth, said she accepted a refund and booked new flights and trains after being told her flight from London to Edinburgh had been axed.

But she said BA now say they won't give a refund as the flight has not been cancelled.

"I've now got flights booked with two different airlines going to the same place and I'm £140 down. I know it's not a lot of money compared to some folk who have spent thousands but it's so annoying."