The parents of two British youngsters killed by carbon monoxide poisoning while on holiday in Greece have accused travel company Thomas Cook of "making money from their children's deaths".

The statement came as the travel company confirmed it had received compensation after Bobby and Christi Shepherd died at the Louis Corcyra Beach Hotel in Corfu in 2006.

"It is disgraceful that after all we've been through, Thomas Cook are still putting us last in the equation," said the siblings' parents, Sharon Woods and Neil Shepherd.

"What parent would not be heartbroken by a worldwide multi-billion-pound organisation making money from their children's deaths."

The family were on a £2,000 holiday on the Greek island in October 2006.

Bobby and Christi, aged six and seven, were overcome in their chalet by fumes from a faulty boiler. They were found by a chambermaid. The adults were found in a coma but survived.

On Wednesday the travel company was told by an inquest jury that it had "breached its duty of care".

But in 2010, after three workers at the hotel were found guilty of manslaughter, Thomas Cook sought to recover its costs. The company will not reveal the amount they were paid out in 2013, but the Mail on Sunday claims it was in the region of £3.5m.

A spokesman for the travel company said a letter saying "sorry" had been sent from Thomas Cook chief executive Peter Fankhauser.

But the parents said in their statement: "We haven't had this 'so called' letter of apology. We have been shown it by the press and feel it is an appalling continuation of Thomas Cook's PR exercise.

"It's not an apology for their wrongdoing but a general offer of sympathy. It does not address the central issue that their Safety Management System failed and it does not apologise for that."

Compensation

The parents previously said the amount of compensation they received was considerably smaller than that received by Thomas Cook.

The statement added: "Our compensation was accepted before the inquest in which Thomas Cook were found to have breached their duty of care."

"We accepted the offer from the Louis Group Hotel chain because we were in financial ruin with the enormous cost of attending court hearings in Corfu and the subsequent impact on our businesses which have since ceased trading."

There has been no comment from Thomas Cook after the statement.

Earlier, a spokesman for the travel company said: "After it was clear the hotel was responsible for the tragedy, all parties affected were compensated, and Thomas Cook received a compensation that partly compensated for the costs related to the incident."

He added that the compensation covered "some of the costs incurred up to and during the trial in Corfu in 2010".

Nearly a decade on from the children's deaths, an inquest in Wakefield last week gave a conclusion of unlawful killing.

The jury found that Thomas Cook's health and safety audit of the hotel was inadequate, but accepted the company had been misled by the hotel about its gas supply.

Originally posted at 10.00am