FURIOUS Britons stranded in Malaga have told of their nightmare 24 hour journey to reach the Celebrity Eclipse.They complained of not being fed and of being kept in the dark by their tour operator.

They survived on a diet of chocolate bars and bags and crisps. Elderly passengers were still vomiting in sick bags as the coach arrived in Bilbao.

Anne Callanan described how their coach first drove for 14 hours to Lloret del Mar, just north of Barcelona.

They spent night at a hotel in the Spanish town before rejoining the coach the following morning, expecting to drive to Calais.

But they only got as far as the French border when they were turned back to Lloret del Mar.

Late on Wednesday night they were told they would be returning to the UK on board a cruise ship.

They then embarked on a 13 hour overnight journey to Bilbao, arriving at about 7am.

Anne Callanan, from Stoke-on-Trent, said: "I flew out on April 6 and I should have gone back on the 16th, which is last Friday. I flew from Manchester to Malaga and we stayed at a beach club in Torremolinos.

"We got told nothing at all, except that we had to stay on.

We were told to have our cases ready for the Friday to get on the bus that would take us to the airport. "Since then we have been living out of our suitcase because every time you unpack you were told to be ready to go. That is how it has been for the past week.

"On Tuesday we should have been on a bus going to Manchester, but it never turned up. Then on Tuesday night we were told to be ready for this journey.

"We had a 14 hours on a coach to Lloret del Mal. We only had sandwiches when we got there and we'd been told we'd get a hot meal.

We've been living off crisps for the last few days.

"Yesterday we were up for 10am for a journey to Calais. We got to the French border and then after four hours we were turned back.

"We have now been on the bus for another 13 hours to get here. There were people being sick on the bus and we had to shine our mobile phone lights on a mother with her baby so that she could see what she was doing.

"There are still people being sick on the bus. It has been horrendous. The reps haven't been telling us anything and we only had a Spanish lad who couldn't speak English.

"It absolutely stinks on board the bus. I can't wait to get on board that ship. I've had no sleep so I'm just going to carry on and enjoy the rest of it."

Gillian Iveson was on the same coach, she added: "The journey was horrific. The bus was totally full. Three-quarters of the bus have been sick. I have had to ask for toilet stops from the Spanish men onboard as we weren't stopping.

"We had to stop to throw our vomit bags off because there was so many on there. I just can't wait to get home now. I can't believe we are going back in five star luxury."