Salmonella Food Poisoning

A young couple from Crewe are taking legal action after their holiday to Turkey was ruined by Salmonella food poisoning.

Richard Pickles, 20, and James Fairbrother, 25, from Crewe, in Cheshire, travelled to Hotel Kervansaray, in the Marmaris resort in Turkey in June 2008 with tour operator Thomas Cook.

Four days before they were due to fly back, Mr Fairbrother fell ill with severe diarrhoea, stomach cramps and fever.

Having been warned by the Thomas Cook holiday representative of the potential expense of consulting the hotel doctor, Mr Fairbrother did not seek medical attention whilst at the resort.

Since returning to the UK Mr Fairbrother has been diagnosed with salmonella food poisoning and continues to suffer the after effects of his illness.

Mr Pickles commented "Dishes of food served in the restaurant were left uncovered, hot food from the kitchen was added to old food which had been sat out and some of the food seemed to be reheated and recycled from one meal to the next such as ham and bacon."

"The restaurant in general seemed dirty and cats were seen to be wandering in and out of the eating area and nothing was done to get rid of them."

"The electrics and plumbing in their room was in a poor state of repair and there seemed to be a lingering odour of sewage throughout the hotel."

Mr Fairbrother added: "I felt awful for the remainder of the holiday, it was so disappointing. The conditions at the hotel were not what we expected and it is very upsetting to still be suffering with illness."

Emyr George from Irwin Mitchell Solicitors who is representing the couple said “This couple’s holiday was ruined by the illness they suffered. Salmonella food poisoning is very serious and can lead to long term problems such as irritable bowel syndrome or chronic fatigue syndrome. Hotels and Tour Operators need to work together to ensure that basic health and hygiene procedures are being implemented to reduce the risk to holidaymakers.

"This is not an isolated incident every year we receive hundreds of inquiries from holidaymakers who have been affected by illness, more needs to be done to reduce the risk."