Bulgarian holiday in hell as family hit by food bug !

Photos:Hotel Riu Helios Bay/http://www.thomson.co.uk

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Bulgarian holiday in hell as family hit by food bug !

Aug 26 2009 by Adam Aspinall, Birmingham Post

A Birmingham family endured a holiday from hell after they were struck down with food poisoning in Bulgaria.

The Riley family, from Solihull, were struck down with stomach cramps, diarrhoea and vomiting within days of arriving at the four-star all-inclusive Riu Helios Bay Hotel in the Bulgarian resort of Obzor Beach.

Mum Anita Riley, 42, was even diagnosed as suffering from salmonella food poisoning – which can be deadly.

Anita and her husband John, 44, and their two children Megan, 16, and Jack, 13, travelled to the resort in mid-July for a one-week all-inclusive holiday with UK tour operator, Portland Holidays Direct.

But Anita said: “The first 24 hours were fine and at first glance both the hotel and the food looked lovely, but then things rapidly went downhill.

“During our stay we noticed that the food, which was often left uncovered, appeared to have been reheated and was under-cooked.

“On one occasion we found the chicken that was served was still pink in the middle.

“One by one John, Jack and I fell ill.

“Only Megan managed to escape illness and she couldn’t go anywhere or enjoy her holiday because the rest of us were all confined to our room with stomach cramps and diarrhoea.

“The holiday was a complete nightmare and we were all so thankful to come home.”

On their return to the UK, both John and Jack Riley were examined in hospital, and Anita was diagnosed with salmonella. All three continue to suffer symptoms.

Problems were first reported at the hotel back in 2006 and law firm Irwin Mitchell is still pursuing a group legal action on behalf of its clients.

But once again this summer dozens of British holidaymakers are being struck down by serious gastric illness – including four confirmed cases of salmonella – three years after problems were first reported.

The law firm is now calling for hygiene improvements to be made at the Bulgarian hotel.

Amandeep Dhillon, from the International Travel Litigation department at Irwin Mitchell said: “Three years on, we have again received reports of illness at this hotel and it is distressing to see that holidaymakers who travelled to the Riu Helios Bay Hotel for a relaxing, well-earned break had their holidays ruined.

“In many cases we find these illness outbreaks are a result of a failure to ensure that basic health and hygiene procedures are correctly implemented by the hotel owner and properly enforced by the UK tour operator.

“We hope that Portland Holidays Direct will now quickly and fully compensate our clients. If a negotiated settlement cannot be reached, then formal legal proceedings will be inevitable although we hope that will not be necessary.”

A spokeswoman for Portland Holidays Direct, which is part of the Thomson group, said: “At Thomson, the health and safety of our customers is our primary focus. We closely monitor all the hotels to which we operate to ensure that the strictest health, safety, hygiene and comfort levels our customers expect are maintained.

“The RIU Helios Bay is a very popular hotel with Thomson customers and continues to score highly in our customer satisfaction questionnaires.

“We are genuinely concerned to hear of any illnesses reported in our properties, however as Mr Riley has sought legal representation, we are unable to comment further so as to ensure that our comments do not interfere or influence any future legal proceedings.”

http://www.birminghampost.net