Holiday hell for Bognor family left tot on drip in hospital

Kim and Kelvin Hickmore were staying at the Holiday Village hotel in Sharm El Sheikh with their two young children and Kim's parents when they were hit by symptoms which included soaring temperatures, diarrhoea and abdominal pains.

Eleven-month-old Logan was so ill he was admitted to hospital with the bug.

The family is pursuing legal action against tour operator First Choice with which the holiday was booked.

Mrs Hickmore (33), of Orchard Way, said: "We had hell of a time in Egypt with a stomach bug and we had to go to a hospital.

"Logan got the bug and became really dehydrated and had to be put on a drip. He was on it for 36 hours. It was awful.

"Lots of people were on medication when we arrived at the hotel and we were told not to touch certain foods.

"After the first week, we caught a severe stomach bug with diarhhoea.

"Logan was vomiting all the time. My mum was really bad and so was my three-year-old daughter Kaitlin.

"The medication couldn't keep anything down.

"We went to a hospital in Egypt and a doctor asked whether we had been swimming in the hotel's pool and was told it was dirty. We think that's where the bug came from."

Travel law specialist Irwin Mitchell said it had received a high level of inquiries from other guests who had complained of similar symptoms after they had stayed at the hotel in the past couple of months.

Clive Garner, head of travel law at Irwin Mitchell, said: "We are very concerned about the scale of the reported problems at the Holiday Village hotel.

"We have had dozens of guests contacting us and complaining of severe illness following stays at the hotel in June and July 2008.

"In addition, we are already representing several other British families who contracted similar illnesses during stays at the Holiday Village in June and July 2007."

He added that the pattern of illness was common in hotels where 'substandard health and hygiene conditions are in place'.

A spokeswoman for First Choice said: "At First Choice, the health and safety of our customers is our primary concern. We would like to reassure our customers that every effort is taken to safeguard their health and wellbeing while abroad."

She said the tour operator 'closely audits all the hotels to which it operates to ensure that the health, safety, hygiene and comfort levels our customers expect are maintained'.

"A full property audit took place on June 12, 2008, including the swimming pools, and nothing of undue concern was found. An additional hygiene audit took place on June 20, 2008, during the Hickmore family's stay, and the property was rated as being above average," she said.

The spokeswoman added that First Choice had not been contacted by anyone in regard to taking legal action over the matter.