Black Country family at centre of storm

Heather and Frederick Jones, of Tipton, their daughter Heidi Rhodes, of Wednesbury and her three young children stayed at the Holiday Village Hotel, Sarigerme, last summer.

Hundreds of people say they suffered diarrhoea, stomach cramps and abdominal pain and are now set to claim damages.

Solicitors Irwin Mitchell claims the hotel has been at the centre of four outbreaks of illness in four years.

It says it will pursue a civil action against the holiday operator, First Choice, unless it is prepared to make a settlement.

Heather, aged 61, of Bagnall Street, Ocker Hill, and her family spent more than £5,000 on the two-week sunshine break last August.

The retired Asda worker said: "I thought it was just getting used to the food and the heat and I was fine after a few days. But after the second day my daughter was ill for the rest of the holiday.

Heidi, 31, started having severe cramps, and says she still has pain. Eldest child Leah Rhodes, aged nine, escaped unscathed, but five-year-old twins, Haydn and Chloe Collins, were ill.

Heather, whose husband is a retired steel strip polisher, said: "It was unbelievable – there were people being ill everywhere."

The hotel, previously the Pegasus Palace, changed its name in 2007.

Clive Garner, head of the travel law team at Irwin Mitchell, said: "It is in everyone's interests to reach a satisfactory conclusion to our clients' claims as soon as possible.

"Failing this, formal legal proceedings will be commenced."

First Choice spokeswoman Grace Jones said: "A specialist consultant, who made an immediate site visit as soon as we learned of the small outbreak of sickness, concluded that the illness was an airborne virus and not a result of any services provided by the hotel."