HOLIDAYMAKERS destined for Greece have been warned they face chaos as fears grow of a run on the country's banks with a potential 'Grexit' loom.

It came as Britain issued a last-ditch appeal to Greece to strike a deal with its creditors to prevent it being forced out of the euro with unpredictable consequences for the entire continent.

Chancellor George Osborne said the EU needed to be "prepared for the worst" after a meeting yesterday of eurozone group finance ministers failed to break the deadlock.

Hopes of preventing a disorderly "Grexit" by Athens from the single currency - with potentially far-reaching consequences for the rest of the EU - would now appear to rest with an emergency summit of the eurozone leaders in Brussels on Monday.

But a leading Scottish travel company boss said there was no sign of a decline in demand for trips to the country despite the economic crisis, but stressed that people should make sure they are travelling with an Atol-protected operator.

"I would certainly strongly encourage people against travelling independently to Greece," said Bill Munro, chairman of the Barrhead Travel Group, which sells package holidays.

"If you book through an Atol-protected travel company then they are legally bound to look after you and bring you home safely if anything goes wrong.

"If you're going it alone booking your own flight and your own accommodation and so on, you don't have that protection."

The pace of withdrawals from Greek banks has accelerated as talks between the government and its creditors have collapsed.

Greece has less than two weeks remaining to strike a deal or face defaulting on a €1.6bn (£1.1bn) loan repayment due to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), with a default likely to trigger its exit from the Eurozone - so-called "Grexit".

The country's sun-drenched islands are among the most popular summer destinations for Scots, with 480 holidaymakers due to fly from Glasgow Airport to Kos, Crete and Zante this weekend alone with Easyjet, Jet2 and Thomas Cook respectively.

Thousands more will be jetting out from the end of next week as the Scottish school holidays begin.

ABTA and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) have both urged anyone travelling to Greece to take plenty money in Euros as well as an alternative form of payment, such as credit cards.

A spokesman for the FCO said its position had not changed but that the department was "keeping a close eye" on the situation.

A spokesman said: "Our advice remains as it has been for the past few months. We are advising Brits to take plenty money and to take more than one form of payment. We would ask anyone travelling to Greece to check our website regularly for any changes to the FCO's travel advice. Any change to our advice will appear first on the FCO website."

Abta, which represents travel agents and tour operators, said holidaymakers should have four to five days' worth of cash on them at any time during their stay

A spokeswoman added: "Speculation about a possible Greece debt default, and potential exit from the Euro, has been current for some time, but at present remains just speculation.

"Any changes would be highly unlikely to happen overnight, any switch to a new currency would take time and Euros would likely be accepted in the interim.

"We do not anticipate that there will be any need for tour operators to rebook their customers to a different destination. At present we have no indication that holidaymakers will be disrupted however, as with all destination matters, we will continue to monitor the situation and work with our Members on any developments. This is an unusual situation but the industry is experienced in handling unusual situations."

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras held talks with Russian Premier, Vladamir Putin, yesterday amid speculation that he may seek Russian loans to avert a default.

However, a spokesman for President Putin said the question of financial aid "wasn't discussed" during the meeting in St Petersburg.

Meanwhile, the European Central Bank stepped in with a credit lifeline on that will ensure Greece's banks are able to open on Monday.

Some €2bn (£1.4 bn) has been withdrawn in the last three days, threatening their ability to operate.

Chancellor George Osborne said the Treasury was stepping up measures to protect the UK economy from any fallout.

"We have entered the eleventh hour of this Greek crisis, and we urge the Greek government to do a deal before it is too late. We hope for the best, but we now must be prepared for the worst." The left-wing Syriza government which must find 1.6 billion euro (£1.15 billion) to repay the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by June 30.