Battle mayor swaps Mallorca for Winchester as volcano strikes

David Hussey, of Battle Hill, was due to fly out with his partner Maria Goldsmith and two friends last Saturday.

But Mother Nature had other ideas, with volcano ash closing all major UK airports.

David said: "We planned to fly out to a villa in Mallorca for a couple of weeks on Saturday (April 17) and obviously that was cancelled, so we rearranged for Monday.

"But then we decided to cut our loses and just go away for two or three days in the UK on the basis we weren't sure when the Iceland volcano dust was going to clear.

"There was also enough people trying to get back and there seemed to be little point in going out there and joining the people who cannot get back."

The group has lost a couple of thousand pounds they paid for the villa and are waiting to hear from their airline if they can get their 400 air fare refunded.

David said: "I have tried to e-mail them and phoning them to cancel in an acceptable time scale, but I cannot get through.

"I have completed e-mails to get a refund, but I cannot get online to fill out the form.

"By the time I can, it may be too late to get a refund under their rules."

David, Maria and friends are now heading to less-exotic Winchester for three days, where the mayor says he is hoping to get a good few rounds of golf in.

He said: "It's compensation really just to feel we are going away."

Meanwhile family friend Tanya Crouch is stuck in Spain with her husband and children for an extra week.

David said: "They did not know where they were going to sleep or anything.

"Easyjet are compensating them for accommodation and some meals.

"They got on the beach and enjoyed themselves as a family, but found there were other people sleeping on the beach."

And David Hussey was not the only councillor to have his travel plans disrupted.

Cllr Richard Bye was absent from the council's monthly meeting on Tuesday after he got stuck in Naples.

Speaking about the volcano, David said: "It's a natural disaster, an exceptional one. It just shows how complacent we have got."