Salmonella poisoning at hotel

A care home assistant is to take legal action after a family getaway was ruined when she contracted salmonella at a four-star holiday hotel.

Jean Linstrum, 54, travelled with five family members to the Nessebar Mare Hotel in Bulgaria in October, but fell ill within days of arriving along with husband Harry, 55, sister, Kathleen Firth, 51 and two other members of the six-strong party.

The trio have now instructed travel experts at Irwin Mitchell to take legal action against tour operator Thomas Cook, labelling their all inclusive trip to the hotel as 'a complete nightmare'.

Mrs Linstrum had to stay in her room from the third day of the week-long break with severe stomach cramps, diarrhoea and nausea.

And after being diagnosed with salmonella by her GP when she returned to the UK, she then had to stay off work for over a month to avoid passing on the illness to the elderly people she cares for.

Mrs Linstrum, who lives in Skelton Woods, Leeds said: "We'd been there three days when I fell ill and the symptoms became so bad that it was difficult to leave my room.

"As we had booked an all-inclusive deal, the hotel was the only place I had eaten and the food was a disappointment. Meat was often undercooked, meals were generally lukewarm at best. In the end, all but one of us suffered some form of illness.

"The entire holiday was ruined, not just for me but for my family as well. It was meant to be a nice break but it turned into a complete nightmare."

Amandeep Dhillon, from the International Travel Litigation Team at Irwin Mitchell, said: "It is appalling that despite all the previous cases of food poisoning in hotels around the world and the well recognised need to apply stringent health and safety standards to protect holidaymakers, people are continuing to suffer illness at hotels used by British tour operators. From what we understand the Nessebar Mare hotel failed to maintain adequate health and hygiene standards in a number of respects particularly in relation to food preparation and storage.

"For five members of a six strong group to experience some kind of illness is simply unacceptable. We are pursuing claims for Mrs Linstrum and her family against Thomas Cook and hope that these will be resolved quickly.

"It is also vital that lessons be learnt at this hotel, and others, to ensure that the health, and the safety of every holidaymaker is a priority."