DAVID Bennett and his family went to Paris for Christmas – unfortunately their luggage went to Afghanistan.

Shortly after the Bennetts arrived in the French capital, a case containing winter clothes and expensive Christmas presents was accidentally dispatched to one of the most strife-torn nations on Earth.

Luckily, the black holdall ended up in the western Afghan city of Farah, which is well away from the worst of the fighting.

But the mix-up left the couple’s children with no presents to open on Christmas Day.

The missing case was returned to Southampton airport 24 hours before its owners – and was promptly searched by police under the Prevention of Terrorism Act.

Officers wanted to know why a bag with no accompanying passenger had arrived from Afghanistan.

Dad David, 48, of Brockenhurst, is also seeking an explanation to the mystery, which began after he and his Guernsey-born wife Marie, their daughter Francoise and son Remi flew to Paris for what should have been a carefree Christmas.

“When we got to Charles De Gaulle airport one of our two identical cases failed to appear,” he said.

“We were a bit cheesed off because it contained the children’s clothes, including cold weather gear and their two big Christmas presents.

“When we checked with our airline, Air France, they said it had vanished from their system.”

The family spent £200 on new clothes to help them cope with the sub-zero temperatures they encountered in France as they toured Versailles, Euro Disney and other attractions.

But the absence of presents on Christmas Day left ten-year-old Remi in tears.

Mr Bennett added: “When I rang Air France last Sunday they said our luggage had been found and was in their baggage centre in Paris. But they rang back about an hour later to tell us that the case had gone back to Southampton.

“When we returned on Monday evening we wanted to know where it had been.

“Staff didn’t recognise the airport code on the label and had to look it up. They said ‘You’ll never believe it – your case has been to Afghanistan’.

“There was even a note from Hampshire Police saying they’d gone through the bag because of where it had come from.”

One of the Christmas presents in the case was a Sony Palm PDA.

Mr Bennett added: “It contained things that people of Afghanistan can only dream about but some honest person put it on the first plane back to Paris.”

However, the businessman was less impressed with the service he received from Air France.

“Not once did they pick up the phone and apologise for the disappearance of our clothes and presents,” he said.

No one was available for comment from Air France.