Family’s nightmare as holiday bug strikes

AN Oldham family who were forced into quarantine after falling ill at a popular holiday camp are taking legal action.

Andrew Johnstone (39), his partner Fiona (37) and children Maria (11), Elizabeth (10) and Annabel (2) travelled to Butlins in Minehead for a five-day family break in August.

But they were forced to cut their holiday short when severe diarrhoea and vomiting left him and his partner confined to their room in agony.

The property sales adviser claims that despite urging staff to help him get medical attention, he was forced to return home so he could visit his GP.

Mr Johnstone claimed issues at the resort included undercooked food being served, new food being added to existing meals on the buffet counter, and unclean glasses and cutlery.

He said: “It was an absolute nightmare, but when you looked around the place it was hardly a surprise. We noticed a range of issues, particularly in the restaurant area, and we were very underwhelmed by hygiene standards in the resort.

“However, what was most alarming was the way that staff didn’t seem to care about the problems I was suffering from.

“We were prevented from leaving our rooms and were only brought a small amount of food and drink to share between the five of us.

“I simply couldn’t believe that, when asked, they discouraged me from calling a doctor. I was clearly in a bad way — Fiona was too scared to even leave us in the room alone — but the treatment the whole family got was absolutely horrendous.”

Mr Johnstone was forced to ask his 67-year-old father to pick up and take care of the children as his condition continued to worsen two days into the holiday.

Mr Johnstone said: “All I want are answers over why we suffered, some indication that our complaint has not fallen on deaf ears and confirmation that they have taken steps to ensure other families will not face the same ordeal that we endured.”

Illness specialists at law firm Irwin Mitchell, who are also representing more than 260 people taken ill at the Bognor Regis Butlins this summer, are calling for urgent action over concerns that customer complaints are not being taken seriously.

Amandeep Dhillon, the solicitor in Irwin Mitchell’s Travel Law team who is acting on behalf of the family against Butlins Skyline, said: “After being contacted by so many people in relation to problems at Butlins in Bognor Regis already this year, it is a massive concern to hear the same kind of horror stories emerging from the site at Minehead.

“While Butlins have responded to the complaints of our client, they are yet to acknowledge that any steps have been taken to examine the cause of the illness problems they faced or that they have put any safety measures in place to prevent the same kind of issues from happening again.

A spokesman for Butlins, Minehead, said: “We have offered a refund to the Johnstone family which they have declined.

“We have received no further communication.”