A FAMILY devastated by a fatal bomb blast hope their three-year fight for £1.1m compensation from Turkey shames the UK Government into action.

In a landmark case, the family of Helyn Bennett, who died in the 2005 tragedy, was this week awarded £1,099,531.

The payment is compensation for Miss Bennett, 21, and five of her relatives seriously injured when a bomb exploded on a bus in Kusadasi.

It comes from a fund set up by the Turkish Government in 2004 for foreigners hurt in terrorist attacks while in their country.

Miss Bennett’s mother, Sharon Holden, of Spennymoor, County Durham, hopes the ruling will force the Government to offer financial support to UK citizens caught in terrorist attacks overseas.

Mrs Holden said: “We have had a horrendous uphill struggle.

“We have campaigned for four years here and fought for compensation from Turkey for three.”

During their campaign, Mrs Holden and twin sister Toni Punshon, who was hurt in the blast, have lobbied politicians to spare future victims the financial trauma they faced.

But for all the rhetoric from ministers, she feels little has changed.

She said: “So many politicians have stood up and said the right thing, but still nothing has really moved on. It is shameful.

“We know it cannot help us now, but it should be there for the future.”

After she heard about the family’s campaign and working with victims of terrorism in Egypt, solicitor Jill Greenfield took up their case in 2006.

Mrs Greenfield, of Field Fisher Waterhouse, worked with the Turkish Ambassador to apply to the scheme, and 18 months later they were offered a few thousand pounds.

They risked losing the original offer by appealing.

Mrs Greenfield believes it is the first case in which someone from this country has used the scheme, and described it as a long, complex, but rewarding process.

She said: “The Government here pleads sorrow and sympathy, but there is little financial help for them. Sympathy does not pay the bills.

“Brits on holiday are terrorist targets simply because they are British.

“The estimate for a scheme is around £3m to £4m a year which is not huge, but extremely important.”

Last night, Bishop Auckland MP Helen Goodman, who has pressed the Foreign Office, Home Office and Ministry of Justice to address the issue, hinted that good news was imminent.

She said: “The Government has provided funding of £1m to the British Red Cross Relief Fund, a charitable fund to help UK victims of terrorism abroad, and is now considering new proposals to build on this and when such a scheme could be introduced.

“I do not expect we will have to wait too long for this announcement.”