Dancers in ruined trip win £85,000

A total of 43 members of the 46-strong group of dancers, aged mainly in their 60s to their 90s, were struck down by the illness when they stayed at the Clifton Hotel overlooking the North Bay in Scarborough.

The outbreak ruined the holiday for the dancers from Pontefract, Wakefield and Doncaster who included a couple celebrating their ruby wedding anniversary.

Their lawyers last night urged tour operators to learn the lessons of the case which has been settled with compensation worth 85,000.

Members of the group suffered vomiting, diarrhoea, fatigue, muscle aches and headaches during their holiday in March 2006 and some continued to be affected after returning home.

In spite of an outbreak of illness at the hotel the week before among another group of guests, the party was not warned and there were no signs that could be seen or information offered advising them of what to do were they to fall ill, said their lawyers.

Frank Marsden, 63, of Pontefract, had organised the trip for the dance group.

"The hotel staff didn't appear to take the reports of illness seriously and didn't call for a doctor when we asked," he said.

"Service in the restaurant was very slow owing to the fact that hotel staff had also fallen ill.

"Both myself and my wife Cynthia were taken ill and had to see doctors after returning home. We are just delighted that the case has finally settled.

"We did not want them to get away with this. We should have been warned about the hotel having an illness outbreak before arriving at the hotel, and we feel let down at the lack of communication."

Travel law experts at Irwin Mitchell negotiated the settlement with hotel owners English Rose Hotels Plc.

Suki Chhokar, from Irwin Mitchell, said: "This case highlights the seriousness of a gastric illness outbreak and the need for lessons to be learnt by tour operators to prevent anything like this happening again.

"It is a major concern that this outbreak was able to affect so many of the guests in the party and even more worrying that staff dealt with it in such a dismissive manner, failing even to alert guests to a previous outbreak.

"Guests staying at hotels, whether abroad or in the UK, deserve the assurance that their accommodation meets basic standards of hygiene.

"If there is any concern their health will be compromised they deserve to know that staff have a policy in place and immediate action will be taken.

"But, on this occasion that was clearly not the case and a large number of people who were away from home were left feeling very unwell and extremely vulnerable."

The Clifton Hotel in Queen's Parade has 70 rooms, many with sea views, and a ballroom.

The war poet Wilfred Owen was billeted there in 1917, writing in a turret bedroom.

Scarborough-based English Rose Hotels was last night asked to comment but did not respond.