A NEWLY-married couple whose honeymoon was ruined when they were stranded in Kenya by terrorist attacks have vowed to fight for compensation for the £2,000 trip.
William Slater, whose dad Bill lives in Clayton Street, Great Harwood, and his bride, Victoria, of Simonstone flew out to Mombasa on 12 May, after getting married at St Philip's Church, Padiham.
But just two days after their arrival they were confined to the hotel as the British Government halted all UK flights in and out of the country.
The couple finally flew back to Britain last Wednesday evening and were picked up from Manchester Airport by Victoria's relieved father, Frank Latham, on Thursday morning.
William said he and Victoria were glad to be back on home soil but were determined to fight for compensation for their ruined honeymoon, which was his first trip abroad.
He added: "We feel a lot better now. We just couldn't relax on holiday and it's not really a holiday if you can't relax. It's a lot better to be back home.
"We are now looking at compensation and it looks like its going to be a bit of a fight."
Ribble Valley MP Nigel Evans has given his full backing to the couple. He said he was glad to see Victoria and William back at home and would do everything he could to aid them in their fight for compensation.
He added: The situation out in Kenya is of concern to all of us and I welcome the news that the newly-weds returned safely from Mombasa.
"It was unfortunate that their honeymoon was ruined by international events and I will do my best to aid them in gaining compensation for what was meant to be the trip of a lifetime for them."
First Choice holidays will compensate the couple for having to cut their holiday short but said that they would not refund the total cost of the trip.
A spokesperson added: "They did raise concerns with one of our representatives when the warning was at its height and we did offer them a return flight on the Sunday which they turned down.
"We found flights for them again on 21 May and they returned home on 22 May. They will be getting pro-rata compensation for having to cut their holiday short by a number of days but because it was not an incident created by First Choice we won't pay out lump sums for it, as the situation could not have been foreseen."
