Friends Win Compensation for Holiday Illness

A group of friends have secured a compensation settlement after they fell ill whilst on a package holiday in Turkey.

The friends had travelled together for a week's holiday at the Perdikia Hills Hotel in the Turkish resort of Oludeniz. Part way through their break, four of them were struck down with diarrhoea, abdominal pains and vomiting.

They complained to their tour operator, Thomas Cook, raising a number of issues with regard to the quality of the food provided in the hotel restaurant. Several times they had been served food that was undercooked – in particular eggs and chicken – and on one occasion they were offered a pizza that was still frozen in the middle. In addition, the restaurant often smelled of sewage.

One of the group, Reian Newitt, a 21-year-old painter and decorator from Reading, initiated a personal injury claim against the tour operator to compensate the four for their ruined holiday. Thomas Cook denied liability for their illness but agreed to pay them a four-figure sum in settlement of their claim.