'I'm stunned': Bridegroom forced to cancel Las Vegas stag do after 'best man runs off with £8,000' - and drown his sorrows in Swindon

Ben, centre, with pals Stuart and Phil who will now accompany him on a less glamorous stag

Groom Ben Whincup should be living it up in Las Vegas, ­enjoying the stag do he and his pals spent a year planning as the trip of a lifetime.

Instead, he is drowning his sorrows in a pub in hometown Swindon — claiming the best man they trusted to organise things with almost £8,000 called the night before they were due to fly and confessed to spending it all without booking anything.

Ben, 28, said: “I could not believe what I was hearing.

“I never even got angry really, it was just shock and disbelief.

“You can’t believe someone would do something like that.

“So we’ve gone from thinking we’d be at a pool party in Vegas to sat having a beer in Swindon.”

Ben, who ties the knot with fiancee Emma in Royal Wootton Bassett on April 24, planned the Sin City jaunt with three pals from Swindon St George Rugby League Club, dad Craig, his two brothers-in-law and another family friend.

They all handed cash over to the best man.

Ben, a rugby coach at Gloucester University who also works as a service engineer, said: “As soon as we had set a date, I told Emma I wanted to go to Vegas for the stag party.

“I’d always dreamed of playing the tables in those iconic casinos and what better time than just before I get married?

“We had decided on the flights and the hotel on the strip where we would stay, and he just said he’d take care of it all.

“We handed over more than £700 each and trusted him to deliver the dream trip. In the weeks running up to the stag, we were all getting excited and there were no signs that anything was wrong.”

Telling of his shock when he got the confession call, Ben said: “I was stunned. I couldn’t believe what he’d done.

“It wasn’t just my money, there were others who were going to miss out on a trip of a lifetime.”

To make matters worse, one of the stag members is already in Las Vegas after travelling to Nevada from his home in New Zealand.

Police are probing and Ben and his group tried to keep the Vegas dream alive – but flights were too dear.

Ben, whose stag plans had included hitting the Hakkasan party venue, said: “It looks like a weekend in Newcastle rather than Vegas.

“There is no use moping about it, I am just trying to make the best of a bad situation and even see the humour in it if I can.”

Thankfully, Emma’s hen party — a weekend of drinks and games in a Somerset mansion — went without any hitches.

Emma, 28, said: “Ben and his friends were so looking forward to the trip and what happened has been a blow. But they’ll find something else and have a good time.”

Ben added: “At least Emma had a good time and I’m sure we’ll have a blast — just not on the tables in Vegas.”

Wiltshire police said: “We can confirm this matter is being investigated. It would be inappropriate to comment further.”