Adrian's Act of God

Adrian Collins, a partner at the Senlac Veterinary Centre in Mount Street, was on a cycling holiday with three friends in the Peloponnese Peninsula and was due to fly back on Saturday, April 17.

But all flights to and from UK airports were grounded for several days after an Icelandic volcano spewed ash into the atmosphere, making it unsafe to fly.

Adrian's wife Charlotte said her husband had taken minimal luggage with him, setting off with just one spare shirt, a cut-off toothbrush and cycle repair kit.

She said: "They have to find places to stay where they can, so they have been staying in hostels quite a lot.

"They cycled back to Athens to try and catch a plane back, but it was chaos, so they hung around for a couple of days and gave up."

Flights were resumed on Wednesday, but the earliest flight Adrian has been able to get booked on leaves on Monday – leaving him with just four rehearsals before the opening night of BLOG's Orpehus in the Underworld on May 6.

Charlotte said: "If he comes back early that week, he will only have four rehearsals before the show and he's the principal character, so it will be an exciting first night!"

And Charlotte says the group has found it difficult to organise things in the absence of it's chairman.

She said: "He phones up and texts me from time to time with things he remembers.

"We have also got the director who is getting quite anxious about having her leading man trapped in Greece."

Charlotte, who lives in Netherfield Hill, says getting information from airline Easyjet proved "very difficult".

Charlotte has been looking after the couple's three children, aged 12, 14 and 16, whilst her husband has been away, as well as helping to cover for him at Senlac Vets, where she also works.

Charlotte said: "Because he's one of the partners at Senlac Vets in Battle, it's been quite difficult having one of the vets away, so it's made quite a difference to work.

"I think he's been feeling slightly guilty about that and everyone at work has had to work extra hard to cover whilst he is away."

But despite soaking up sun during his extended holiday, Adrian claims he has been busy researching for his BLOG role as Jupiter - visiting the exact cave where Orpheus is said to have entered the underworld.