Illness at Abacus Tios Hotel, Turkey

A woman from Liverpool is taking legal action after their holiday to Turkey was ruined by gastric illness.

Maria Fletcher (43) from Huyton, travelled to the Abacus Tlos Hotel, Hisaronu, Turkey in July 2008 with tour operator Future Travel.

It should have been a pleasant and relaxing trip, yet within days of arriving she began to suffer diarrhoea, severe stomach cramps and vomiting.

The symptoms became worse and Ms Fletcher was confined to her room for the remainder of their holiday.

She said: "I believe that my illness was the result of poor health and hygiene standards at the hotel.

"The food was undercooked and hotel staff would often re-serve food that had been left out and exposed for hours.

"There were dead wasps and flies in the food as well – it was just disgusting.

"The hotel also had a lingering odour of sewage which came from a sewage dump near to our room. We reported all this to the staff at the hotel, but they did nothing.  The representative told me she was ‘too busy’ to talk to us about our problems and that I should speak to her colleague who was just as disinterested."

Since returning to the UK, Miss Fletcher has continued to suffer from their symptoms and is still seeking medical attention from their GP.

Amandeep Dhillon a lawyer with travel litigation specialists Irwin Mitchell Solicitors, who is representing the couple, said: "Miss Fletcher’s relaxing holiday was ruined by gastric illness which she still continues to suffer from".

"This would seem to be yet another example of a failure in basic health and hygiene procedures being correctly implemented. Holidaymakers like Miss Fletcher should be able to look forward to their holidays without the fear of returning home with health problems."