"However as a general point I wonder why people(with access to a computer) book with agencies when it is usually cheaper now to book direct with airlines direct on their website."

My main preference for booking with an agent (and in their defence for the last 5 years it has been Charter) is that they often have availability and prices on Virgin that we have not been able to beat by looking direct at the Virgin website and also when booking in advance as we usually do to get the dates we want, they are prebookable with deposit and balance 10 weeks before rather than full payment at time of booking which can make a signifcant difference.