The RAC has apologised to a Suffolk duo whose relaxing weekend break turned into a disaster when their broken-down motorhome was left stranded in a lay-by.

Tracey Salmon, her mother Marilyn and her dog Dolly were on their way back to Suffolk after a short trip away in their motorhome when it broke down near Corby, Northamptonshire - leaving them stranded on a lay-by on the side of the A14.

After immediately calling for help from the RAC, the pair waited to be rescued.

But, nearly two days later, they were still trying to get back home - despite being moved to a safer location at a service station in Cambridge.

The RAC has since apologised to the pair, adding demand for its services was "much higher than expected" despite planning for the hot weather.

Mrs Salmon said: "We were driving along and the motorhome started to lose power, so I pulled onto the side of the road.

"We called the RAC straight away so I can't believe we are still not home.

"It's so irritating. I was supposed to be back at work today, so I am having to use an extra holiday day to sort this out.

"We have been told so many things.

"Over a 48 hour period we had about 8 hours sleep, made about 50 to 60 phone calls to RAC, which amounted to about five hours of call time."

Mrs Salmon, 44 and her mother, 66, regularly take trips to different parts of the UK.

They decided to utilise a good period of sunny weather to travel to Betus-Y-Coed in Wales.

They called the RAC immediately after breaking down on Saturday, but were told because of issues on nearby roads they would have to wait for at least four hours for help.

They had still not heard any news at 10.30pm and decided to call off their hope of help for the evening, staying in their motorhome overnight.

On Sunday, a mechanic came to look at the motorhome later on but said that it could not be fixed.

At around 3pm on Sunday Mrs Salmon, who lives near Felixstowe, called the RAC again and was told a recovery truck had been asked to take them back to Suffolk, but they would not arrive for another thee or four hours.

However, when it arrived, they were told it would only be taking them to a service station in Corby.

They were then transported to a service station in Kettering on Sunday night and later a service station in Cambridge, eventually making it home at 6.15 the following day, 48 hours after their initial break down.

A spokesman for the RAC said: "We would like to apologise to Mrs Salmon about her breakdown experience.

"Despite our best planning for the hot weather last weekend, demand for our services in some locations was still much higher than expected.

"This meant we relied on local contractors to recover Mrs Salmon's motorhome, who had to complete the recovery in a series of stages.

"We always ensured each stage ended at a safe location, namely a service area, and we did offer hotel accommodation to Mrs Salmon on Sunday night.

"We have been in touch with Mrs Salmon throughout the breakdown situation, and will continue to do this to reassure her that her experience was not typical, and to understand what we can do to improve our service in the future."