A FAMILY-of-three who spent a dream £6,000 getaway to Mexico suffering with severe food poisoning are taking legal action against their travel operator.

Robert and Helen Shaw took their 18-year-old daughter for a fortnight away in a five-star Cancun resort where they all began experiencing painful stomach cramps half way through their trip.

Delivery driver, Mr Shaw, booked the family holiday with Thomson Holidays to stay in the Thomson-run Riu Caribe resort, where an outbreak of bacterial bug Cyclospora was declared by the Foreign Office.

The 52-year-old, from Stockton, said: “Instead of relaxing and seeing the sites all we saw was the inside of a bathroom. We couldn’t enjoy it as were too sick we just wanted to come home.

“If we had known about the risk from this bug, I would have taken precautions about what we ate and drank to try and protect my family, but nobody told us anything – it’s outrageous.

“The long flight home was worst so from now on we won’t travel anywhere longer than four hours flight time.”

Upon their return home, the family were all diagnosed with Cyclospora – a bowel infection caused by a parasite, usually caught from eating raw fruit and vegetables contaminated with human faeces.

Mrs Shaw, who works in the University Hospital of North Tees, Stockton, was unable to return to her job for six weeks due to the high risk of infecting patients with the bug.

A Thomson spokeswoman said: “We’re sorry to hear of the Mr Shaw’s experience. As this is now subject to legal proceedings, it would be inappropriate for us to comment further at this time.

“We’d like to reassure customers that we regularly audit all of the hotels we feature in respect of health and safety, including hygiene and that this hotel continues to score highly on our customer satisfaction questionnaires.”

The family have since decided to sue Thomson over the trip with Simpson Millar solicitors, who are handling claims for hundreds of holidaymakers who were struck by Cyclospora in the same resort.

Nolan Mortimer, head of travel at the solicitors, said: “Mr Shaw and his family suffered an awful ordeal and feel let down by Thomson.

“There are still many people who fell ill, but are unaware they caught the bug as it requires a special GP test.

“Travellers need to be made more aware of any potential risks in resorts from their tour operators.”