Shropshire couple glad to be back home after Sharm terror alert

She and her husband Peter were among the thousands of British tourists stuck in Egypt after a terror alert led to a mass evacuation.

Today they spoke of their relief to be back in Shropshire, and of the fear and confusion of their ordeal.

Mrs Bebb, from St Martin's, near Oswestry, said she and Peter flew back to Manchester, after spending three days trapped in Sharm el-Sheikh.

"I was petrified from the moment we took off," she said. "We were listening to the engine for noises and everything. At one point we had some really bad turbulence, and you can imagine what that was like."

Mrs Bebb, who is a health care assistant at the Orthopaedic Hospital in Gobowen, flew out to Sharm el-Sheikh with Peter for a week's holiday on October 29, two days before the Russian airliner crashed.

"When the plane crashed, we all thought it was a bomb. But then we heard stuff like the luggage hold hadn't been closed properly, or that it shouldn't have taken off because there was a fault," she said.

The Bebbs had been due to return home on that Thursday, but were told the night before that all flights had been cancelled.

"We spoke to the hotel manager that night, and he said 'don't worry, you will be able to wait here for a couple or three days'," said Mrs Bebb. "But the next day Monarch said we had to go to the airport. We found out about noon, and they told us the transport would be there for us for 1pm. They then sent us to another hotel."

Mrs Bebb said the following day they were told to return to the airport at midday, and were taken through security. But after a six-hour wait, they were told there were no planes leaving for Manchester that day, and were again sent to another hotel. On the Saturday, they were told to check-in at 2.45pm, for a 3.15pm flight, but it was a further four hours before the plane took off.

She criticised Monarch Airlines for failing to keep them informed.

The return flight was diverted from its original route because of fears it could be attacked by terrorists on the ground.

"We were told they had been firing missiles at the planes from the ground, so we couldn't take our normal route back," she said. The couple were still waiting for their luggage to be returned, but added that the important thing was getting home.

Mrs Bebb said: "I kept reading people saying 'what are they complaining about? They got an extra three days holiday', but I can assure you there was nothing relaxing about it at all."

She said she had no criticism of the Government, which she said was correct to suspend the flights given the dangers.

"There's been a lot more on the news over there. They were talking about airport staff being the problem, we were told they had found another bomb that hadn't detonated in the airport, and there was another one on the wing. We did see the people who were supposed to be watching the cases playing with their phones, and we saw members of staff being let through security without being searched," she said.

Helen Yates, who lives in Wellington, and her partner Alan Weston, were also caught up in the chaos.

The couple were forced to spend another day at the Red Sea resort after their flights were cancelled. Miss Yates said she and Mr Weston were also now waiting for their luggage to be returned by Monarch Airways.

She said it also meant Mr Weston had been unable to keep a promise to pick up his 10-year-old daughter Isla from school on the Friday because they were still trying to return home.

"This really did disappoint Isla and she was really concerned that we wouldn't get home, and that was Alan's only concern, getting back in time," she said.

Miss Yates said a lack of information about what was happening had made the wait stressful.

Monarch Communications director Liz Falcon said that the airline had been quick to respond to the Government's travel advice, and made every effort to contact customers who were in the resort to inform them of cancellations and changes to flight times.

She added that Mr and Mrs Bebb had booked their holiday through a third party tour operator, meaning that Monarch did not have direct contact details for the Bebbs, although the appropriate advice was passed on to the tour operators.

"Monarch representatives are present in the hotels secured for our customers which enables us to communicate with all customers more easily during this ongoing situation," she added.