Sarratt couple fall ill on holiday to Tenerife (From Watford Observer)

Sarratt couple fall ill on holiday to Tenerife

4:49pm Wednesday 25th August 2010 in

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An elderly couple from Sarratt, who suffered from a severe stomach illness while on holiday in Tenerife, are taking legal action against their travel operator.

Timothy and Patricia Regan, from Deadmans Ash Lane, had severe stomach cramps, diarrhoea and vomiting while staying at a four-star hotel, in Puerto de Santiago.

In fact, the couple who run the Sarratt Post Office, were so ill that they continued to be sick even after they returned home.

Mr Regan, 63, said: “The standards at the hotel were shocking, the food at the hotel restaurant was terrible and was severely undercooked.

“New food was added to old throughout the day so no one had any idea how long it had been sat out for.”

Mr and Mrs Regan were both fine on Wednesday, the first day of the holiday, but by the Friday both began to feel unwell.

Mr Regan said: “My wife went downhill very quickly, and was even worse on Saturday.

“I asked reception to call a doctor on Sunday, he told me off for leaving it so long because Patricia was severely dehydrated. He had to give her three or four injections and some antibiotics.

“You're such a long way away from home, and I was worried about how we would get home, I had visions of air ambulances because she was in such a bad state.

“To say I was extremely worried about her is an understatement.”

Patricia, 71, was off work for almost three weeks, and now, the couple have sought legal action against Thomson Holidays, the travel operator.

Irwin Mitchell solicitors are investigating claims from more than 20 other holidaymakers who became ill while staying the hotel between February and April of this year.

Suki Chhokar, a partner in the travel law team, said they had been taking complaints since February, and suggested that as many as 300 people may have been affected.

“It would appear that a large number of people fell very ill in a very short space of time,” he said, “this hotel’s managers and the tour operators in question owe it to their customers to stand up and take responsibility for the suffering caused.”

Ian Benjafield, from Thomson, which provides holidays to the Barceló Santiago hotel, confirmed that both visitors and local residents in the Los Gigantes area suffered from norovirus early this year, a gastrointestinal illness, passed from person-to-person.

He added: “At the time of the illness, we worked the affected hotels to help them limit the spread of the illness by adopting industry recognised procedures.

“We have seen no evidence to support the allegation that any illness at the hotel was related to food hygiene, independent experts ruled out anything other than a person-to-person communicable virus.”

Mr Regan added: “To think a holiday caused us so much pain and upset, both when we were away and when we got home, is really unfair.

“We work hard and deserve to enjoy our precious time away. Our holiday is the usually the highlight of our year, but this time it was something we would certainly rather forget and we wish we had never gone away in the first place.”