A FAMILY from Chester-le-Street has been told the trial in Greece of five medical staff accused of causing the death of their son will not go ahead until May.

Relatives of Christopher Rochester flew out to Rhodes in preparation for the trial - due to begin on Wednesday - of three doctors and two nurses charged with manslaughter by gross negligence.

Mr Rochester, a bar and entertainments manager from the Garden Farm Estate, fell 40ft from a balcony on the island two years ago, when he was visiting his brother Keith who lived in the resort.

An ambulance took 40 minutes to reach hospital, where Mr Rochester then bled to death from a fractured pelvis. His family claim his death was due to neglect and poor treatment from medical staff on duty that night.

The case was adjourned, despite the attempts of the family and North Durham MP Kevan Jones who travelled to Greece with them.

The British party had worked late into the night on the eve of the trial, meeting with their Greek appointed solicitor and British Consulate staff to ensure they had all the correct documents for the trial to go ahead.

But it was adjourned because one of the doctors, Sergios Paulidis, had not been properly summoned because he was working on secondment in a Moscow hospital. One of the nurses was also absent.

Doctors Michael Sokorelos and George Karavolias and nurse Pinagiotis Kalafatis were present in court. They stood alongside Pam Cummings, Mr Rochester's mother, who under Greek law can be represented throughout the trial.

None of the defendants have yet entered a plea to the manslaughter charge, an offence that carries up to five years in prison.

Mrs Cummings said, despite the lengthy delay, she was pleased to finally see action being taken.

Accompanied by her husband George, Christopher's step-father, her son Keith and five people close to the family, she said that until now she was doubtful that there was real impetus in pushing ahead with legal proceedings.

She said: "We feel that things are actually happening now, whereas over the last two years we seem to have had a continuous fight to get information to move forward with this case. Now we are here we feel things are moving in a positive direction and we feel lucky that we have got the support that we have and we hope that support will be with us when we return in May."

Mr Jones had been instrumental in securing the services of solicitor Sotirios Manolkidis at the eleventh hour. The family's first solicitor withdrew less than a fortnight before the trial and a second solicitor was then instructed but he also withdrew.

The MP said: "Today's experience without the help of the British consulate and the Greek solicitor would have been impossible. We would have gone nowhere today. I am confident now it is going in the right direction. There are still a lot of unanswered questions."