A GROUP of Suffolk holidaymakers were last night waiting to find out if they can be flown back from Mexico, after the recent outbreak of swine flu in the region.

Lizzie Parry

A GROUP of Suffolk holidaymakers were last night waiting to find out if they can be flown back from Mexico, after the recent outbreak of swine flu in the region.

The 12 friends, who asked not to be named, arrived at their resort in the popular tourist destination Cancun, on Sunday as the first reports of the scale of the situation emerged in the world's media.

Looking forward to a week in the sun, their holiday has become a “living nightmare” with little help or information reaching the group.

One of the party speaking from the resort last night said: “We are not great at the moment to be honest. “If people from home had not been texting us and letting us know what is going on, we would not have had a clue.

“We have not had any information at all, it is quite disgusting.

After speaking with one of the reps on Monday the holidaymakers were advised against visiting public places such as clubs, bars as well as arranged tours and excursions.

This weekend is a bank holiday in Mexico and the women have been warned that there will be an influx of people from Mexico City to the popular tourist destination.

She added: “They will all be flying into the same airport we have got to fly out of so we want to leave before then.

“I suppose the concern is with more people coming down from the city it is more likely to spread.

“We haven't left the resort, but there are still young people going out in the evening, and they are coming back into the resort. They should have shut down public places like that.

“We have only had one full day and now we just want to come home.”

With little reliable information available to the party, they are concerned about stories they are hearing on the grapevine.

The 27-year-old said: “What is worrying us is the flight home. We have heard stories about people flying back to New Zealand where a whole plane full of people has now got flu symptoms.

“We are waiting to speak to our rep again to hear if we can get home early.

“There are some tour companies sending coaches round to resorts collecting their customers and sending them home so we are just hoping our tour operator does the same.

“They need to start getting word across to the resorts about what is happening.”

The woman said the group were feeling ok, but the worrying was making them feel sick.

“We are all feeling ill with worry about it. We don't even know what symptoms to look out for.

“Awareness needs to be made a priority, it clearly isn't here.”

Newlyweds Dawn and Iain Askham, from Polmont, near Falkirk, Scotland were confirmed as having the first cases of swine flu in the UK after returning from Mexico.

They fell ill at the weekend, days after getting back from their honeymoon in Cancun and on Monday tested positive for the disease.

Although health officials have said they are not seriously ill they are being treated in isolation at Monklands Hospital in Airdrie, Lanarkshire.

The Foreign Office is now advising against all but essential travel to Mexico. On the government department's website they also state those British nationals resident in or visiting Mexico should consider whether they remain in the country.

The Health Protection Agency issued this information for clinicians.

Doctors should consider testing for swine flu where a person displays the following symptoms:

A fever with a temperature of over 38C or 100F.

A flu-like illness with two or more of the following - cough, runny nose, limb or joint pain, headache.

Other symptoms include respiratory tract illness and some people have presented with vomiting and diarrhoea.

And they should be on alert if a patient tells of symptoms starting after returning from Mexico, and the US states of California, Texas, Ohio, New York or Kansas.