Home at last!

HOME at last . . . Luke Johnson, left, and Jamie Brierley

Lads hitch a ride back with the Navy

THE Royal Navy came to the rescue of two Oldham lads stranded in Spain by the flights ban — but they still endured a marathon journey home.

Jamie Brierley (17), from Waterhead, and Luke Johnson (29), from Chadderton, arrived back home six days later than planned after having to travel by land and sea.

They were relieved to get on board the HMS Albion after the British warship taking 450 troops home from Afghanistan also collected 280 stranded holidaymakers.

Also on board was Greater Manchester Police chief Peter Fahy who had travelled to Philadelphia to give a talk at a conference of American police chiefs. To get back to his desk he caught a military plane to Spain to enable him to get on the ship.

The Oldham friends had flown from Liverpool to Spain by Ryanair on April 11 to enjoy a five-day holiday in Salou.

But planes were grounded on the day they were due to fly home.

The pair were down to their last 20 euros and were forced to sleep in the airport. Family watching the news in Oldham kept them up to date with what was happening.

“There was no help over there,” said Jamie. “We ran out of money and Ryanair would not put us up in hotels so we ended up staying in the airport for a couple of nights. They would not give us vouchers or food.”

His family was able to send them money and they spent two nights in a hotel waiting for the situation to change. His mum told them the HMS Albion was heading to Santander to collect holidaymakers so they set off to meet it.

The journey involved a three-and-a-half-hour coach ride to Zaragoza, a four-hour coach trip to Bilbao and then a three-hour coach drive to Santander, where they arrived on April 20 and waited for the ship.

“We were lucky to get on,” said Jamie. “It was brilliant.

“The Navy gave up their beds for civilians to sleep on. They were so helpful and really nice.”

They had been out in Afghanistan fighting for our country for six months and they were prepared to sleep on the bottom deck where the tanks were so we could get a room and somewhere to sleep. The food was great and they also gave us a packed lunch for our journey home. We’re really grateful.”

They arrived at Portsmouth on Wednesday evening and stayed in a B&B overnight before catching a coach to Manchester.

Jamie, who is training to be a sports therapist, said: “It was really tiring.”

Ryanair had said it wouldn’t pay passengers costs but in a U-turn 24 hours later conceded it is legally bound to.