Corfu death mother in safety bid

A faulty boiler has been blamed for the children's' deaths

The mother of two children who died from carbon monoxide poisoning in a Corfu hotel hopes to return to Greece to inspect standards in other hotels.

Bobby Shepherd, six, and his sister Christi, seven, from Horbury, died at the Corcyra Hotel last October.

Their mother, Sharon Wood, said the family was "delighted" at news the hotel had been closed by Greek authorities after reopening for Easter.

She said she hoped to go there later this month to inspect other hotels.

Licence revoked

On Thursday, tourism development minister Fanny Palli-Petralia ordered the Corcyra Hotel to close immediately.

It had been shut so allegations of negligence at the hotel could be investigated following the tragedy, but had reopened for the Easter break.

Sharon Wood said tour operators had a responsibility for safety

On hearing news of the closure, Ms Wood told the BBC: "We are delighted. It is the first bit of good news we have had.

"Obviously we knew from the start that the hotel wasn't safe and we are very pleased now that the tourism minister has come forward and revoked the licence.

"We hope that we can go over to Corfu at the end of April and have a look at some of the other hotels.

"We all know that standards abroad, particularly in Greece, are not the same as here, but we do feel that British tour operators should be making sure that standards are upheld."

Christi and Bobby had been on holiday with their father Neil Shepherd and his partner Ruth Beatson when they were overcome by carbon monoxide fumes.

Gas had been emitted from a faulty boiler and air-conditioning unit.

Mr Shepherd said he was pleased by news of the closure, but said there was "a long way to go to get any kind of satisfaction".

He said: "Obviously we are extremely pleased that it has been closed, as far as we were concerned it had broken all the guidelines and regulations and it shouldn't have opened in the first place.

"We are trying in every way we can . . . to highlight the dangers that people are facing.

"We have tried every single possible way we can to get this bungalow knocked down, but to absolutely no avail."