A GRANDMA’s New Year holiday to Gran Canaria was ‘ruined’ by food poisoning which left her confined to her hotel room for days.

Helen Forshaw, from Rixton, flew out for a fortnight to the holiday island with her daughter, son-in-law and grandson on New Year’s Eve.

The 61-year-old had booked the all-inclusive stay at the Paradise Lago Taurito resort through Thomas Cook, trading as Airtours.

But just over a week after arriving, Helen began experiencing severe stomach cramps, diarrhoea and vomiting.

She was unable to leave her hotel room for three days as a result of the suspected food poisoning – and believes that dozens of other guests may have fallen ill.

Helen said: “The diarrhoea and vomiting was absolutely horrendous, and it got to the point where I had difficulty leaving my room for three days.

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“While I initially had no idea how bad the problems at the hotel were, another guest put a letter under my door saying that there were in the region of 30 people also affected.

“I was hugely disappointed by the experience, especially as I had stayed at the hotel just the year before and really enjoyed it.

“However, so many things seemed a little off this time – some of the food seemed to be undercooked at times and the standard definitely did not appear to be the same.

“At one point, my son-in-law took food back to the counter saying it was inedible and all the staff did was to put it back under a grill to brown.

“We were even given cards by staff at our resort to go and use the food services at another hotel across the road.

“This was supposed to be a relaxing and fun way to start 2019, yet it was just tainted – I feel I’m entitled to some answers regarding this and whether anything is actually being done to prevent it from happening again.”

Months later, Helen is still eating less as she is worried her symptoms may flare up again.

She has instructed personal injury lawyers at the Irwin Mitchell firm to investigate the cause of her illness.

Legal expert Jayne Murphy, who is representing Helen, added: “We are hugely concerned by the account that Helen has provided to us and have already commenced our investigations into her experiences.

“Sadly, this is yet another case which demonstrates the significant impact that gastric illness problems abroad can have – with the problems seen here ruining a special family break, and also having a lasting impact on Helen.

“It is very worrying that many more people staying at the resort could also potentially have been affected by illness, and we are now investigating whether this was the case.

“We are determined to get to the bottom of what Helen has been through and provide her with answers as to why she fell ill.”

Thomas Cook said that nearly 250 of its customers had stayed at the hotel in December and January, and that none had reported any gastric illness.

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A spokesman said: “We have no record of Ms Forshaw reporting that she was unwell to our reps while on holiday, or to our customer services team on her return – we take all reports of illness seriously and our legal team are now reviewing this claim.

“We always advise our customers to inform our reps or the hotel staff immediately if they become unwell so they get the care they need to then be able to enjoy the rest of their holiday.”