Payout for man's 'holiday hell'

Marc Stringer's illness continued on his return home to the UK

A Kent man has been awarded £5,925 in compensation following a "holiday from hell" in the Dominican Republic.

Marc Stringer, 29, from Deal, took a five-star break at the Paraiso Del Sol resort with MyTravel three years ago.

But within three days he was in hospital on an intravenous drip suffering from severe diarrhoea.

Thomas Cook, which has since merged with MyTravel, said it took reports of illness very seriously, and an "agreed settlement" had been reached.

Mr Stringer, who went on holiday with his girlfriend, said the brochure had promised a "tropical paradise", but it soon became apparent that was far from the truth.

'Cockroaches and flies'

"After a couple of days we started to notice we were getting ill, and staff generally weren't that helpful," he said.

"Every day we walked out the hotel we were offered drugs, and at the weekends you'd have pimps and prostitutes in the grounds."

He added that there were cockroaches in his hotel room and there were often flies on the restaurant food which was left out uncovered for several hours.

After being treated in hospital, Mr Stringer tried to cut short his holiday, even offering to pay extra or take an indirect flight home, only to find that he was unable to book alternative travel.

On his return to the UK, he continued to be ill for the next eight months.

Mr Stringer was originally offered £25 compensation by the tour operator, MyTravel, which was raised to £50 when he refused.

He was awarded £5,925 after taking legal action.

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Marc Stringer from Deal booked a luxury holiday in the Dominican Republic in 2005 which went badly wrong.