Colden Common family's Caribbean holiday from hell (From Hampshire Chronicle)

Colden Common family's Caribbean holiday from hell

11:34am Friday 12th March 2010 in

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IT was a £5,000 trip of a lifetime for one family near Winchester.

But their Caribbean break descended into disaster when sickness and diarrhoea struck after less than 24 hours at the all-inclusive resort.

The Boyd-Leslie family from Colden Common is among hundreds of holidaymakers suing First Choice for up to £3m.

The writ claims the Bahia Principe Hotel in the Dominican Republic served up undercooked food and had poor hygiene standards.

Mice and dogs were seen in the hotel restaurants, birds picked at leftover food and flies swarmed around the buffet area.

Paul Boyd-Leslie said his wife Carole was so sick she had to spend the night on a drip to replace lost body fluids. His daughter Hollie, now 10, a pupil at Colden Common Primary School, vomited seconds after eating breakfast.

"It was horrifying, it was the worst situation I have ever been in," said Mr Boyd-Leslie, a coach at Winchester Tennis Club. "When I saw people being carted off to hospital on a daily basis I feared for my daughter, because the children were more susceptible."

The 38-year-old claims after fighting off his holiday illness his system's antibodies began attacking his own body, causing mild arthritis in his hips.

"It was going to be a really special holiday but it was a disaster," added Mr Boyd-Leslie, who is hoping for around £11,000 in compensation. "It was like a ghost town on the last day, we were sat by the pool and there was just small clusters of people. If we could have got a flight home earlier we would have done."

In total 1,000 people have or are pursuing claims relating to holidays at the resort in 2007. More than 500 people have already settled with another holiday firm, Thomas Cook, for £3.5m. Law firm Irwin Mitchell said the action against First Choice, if successful, could settle for a similar figure.

Amandeep Dhillon, of Irwin Mitchell, said: "First Choice have not settled so far and we are now pressing for an early court hearing, hopefully later this year.

"There are not as many claimants in the claim against First Choice - just over 400 - but I would anticipate that a total compensation sum of around the £3m mark could well be involved.

"Around 40 per cent of the claimants were straightforward holidaymakers but others - who were celebrating weddings, anniversaries and birthdays - had suffered serious symptoms, so the majority of pay-outs were for significant sums of money.

A spokesperson for First Choice said: "The health and well being of our customers is of paramount importance to First Choice.

"We are concerned to learn of any alleged illness in any of our properties.

"However, as the matter in question is currently subject to a legal process, it would be inappropriate of us to comment any further at this time so as not to prejudice future court proceedings.

"Bahia Principe San Juan in the Dominican Republic is and continues to be a very popular resort. We are very confident that guests due to travel there in the future will have a wonderful holiday, experiencing the excellent levels of quality and standards they expect from a First Choice property."