Family sue travel firm after Caribbean 'holiday from hell'
A FURIOUS family are suing a travel company over their "holiday from hell".
Todmorden couple Peter and Sharon Ward booked a sunshine trip to the Caribbean with First Choice for Peter’s birthday.
But their dream getaway, accompanied by daughter Sarah, 26, and five-year-old granddaughter Bethany, turned into a nightmare, they say.
They contracted acute gastro-enteritis at the four-star Bahia Principe Hotel in the Dominican Republic.
Peter, 50, of Burnley Road, Todmorden, said: “After we’d been there two or three days we started getting poorly, as did the majority of the people in the hotel. People were dropping like flies.”
They suffered agonising stomach cramps, sickness and diarrhoea – so severe Sharon collapsed and was admitted to hospital for two days.
“I was terrified. We didn’t know what was going on and poor Peter had to spend his birthday at my bedside looking after me,” said Sharon, 51.
The couple, who run the Burnley Road Chippy, Todmorden, blamed poor hygiene for the outbreak.
Peter said: “We saw a little girl who was sick on the table and nobody came to clean it. “There were wild birds picking bits out and flying round the restaurant. What looked like a paradise in the brochure turned into an absolute nightmare.”
They said drinks in the mini-bar were more than a year out of date, food was under-cooked and cleaning was scarce.
The family are among more than 400 holidaymakers now taking High Court action against First Choice over the holiday, with combined claims adding up to a potential 3 million, according to law firm Irwin Mitchell.
Sharon said they wanted a 4,500 refund, compensation for pain and suffering – and an apology.
“We got no letter, no phone call, nothing. You don’t expect to end up in hospital or miss your trips when you go away and we had scrimped and saved to go on that holiday,” she said.
A First Choice spokeswoman said: “We are concerned to learn of any alleged illness in our properties.
“However, as the matter is currently subject to a legal process, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.”
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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