Poorly holidaymaker 'died after 300-mile taxi journey home

Image copyrightFAMILY PICTURE

Image captionNorma Francis's family are taking legal action to discover if her death could have been prevented

An elderly holidaymaker died after being taken home on a 300-mile taxi journey while unwell.

Norma Francis, 79, was in Scotland with husband John, 81, when she fell ill.

Staff at the Loch Achray Hotel in Callander arranged for them to be taken back to their home in Stafford by taxi, but on their arrival Mrs Francis could not be roused and later died.

Her family are questioning the decision to send the pensioner home and are taking legal action.

Mr and Mrs Francis, who booked the holiday through tour operator Lochs and Glens Holidays, arrived at their hotel on 3 April and she fell ill two days later.

'Deeply saddened'

Mr Francis said he was informed by the hotel manager that staff were arranging a taxi for the 300-mile journey home.

The couple left on the afternoon of 6 April and Mrs Francis slept for much of the journey.

An ambulance was called when she could not be woken and she died later that day at County Hospital in Stafford.

A post-mortem examination revealed she had contracted norovirus.

An inquest is scheduled for 13 October at South Staffordshire Coroner's Court.

Clare Comiskey, a public health lawyer at Irwin Mitchell, said: "Norma's family just want to know if anything could have been done differently to prevent her death."

Neil Wells, managing director at Lochs and Glens, said: "We were deeply saddened when we learned that Mrs Francis had passed away.

"As this is still being investigated, it would be inappropriate for us to comment any further at this stage."