Rhodes holidaymakers told to use wet towels as fire protection

Ms Derbyshire and family have since returned to the UK

A mother and her children were told to wrap wet beach towels around their heads to protect them from hot embers while on holiday in Rhodes.

Flames have been ravaging the Greek island during a heatwave across Europe.

When Celia Derbyshire, from Congleton, Cheshire, and her two daughters Mimi and Olivia arrived on Friday, they were told flames were 10 miles away from their hotel.

By Saturday, they were being told the five-star resort was on fire.

Ms Derbyshire said the scene was like a "war zone".

"There were women screaming, men panicking and crying, children crying. It was just a flat-out panic.

"You've got the water in front of you, which we were all trying to get into, and behind us was on fire.

"It sounded like a war zone with the helicopters going overhead."

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, where she apologised for her raspy voice caused by smoke inhalation, Ms Derbyshire said that the local people were "incredible".

"There was a sea of boats, fishing boats, speed boats... all coming towards us," she said.

While holidaymakers were being told to leave their luggage, she explained how she prepared a grab bag with passports, a phone and money inside.

'Acrid black'

"[The skies] had gone from a yellow plume in the morning to very acrid black," she said.

Ms Derbyshire has since returned home after she and her family managed to arrange a route through Kos, arriving at Manchester Airport at about 04:00 BST on Monday.

Wind coupled with dry conditions and high temperatures meant wildfires spread across the island on Saturday

After spending £3,000 on the holiday, Ms Derbyshire said that due to lost luggage and organising her own way home, she had actually paid about £6,000 in total.

She said despite being a "loyal Tui customer for years", she would not be using the operator again, adding the Tui rep was "nowhere to be found".

She said: "I now feel like I need to go into battle with Tui, to try and get my cases back, or to get some sort of compensation."

Tui said its teams in Rhodes "have been working tirelessly to support customers impacted by the wildfires".

It said three evacuation flights had taken people off the island overnight.

"We have reps in all evacuation centres and we're aiming to get more people home from the affected areas as soon as we can," a spokesperson explained.

"We appreciate how distressing and difficult it's been for those who have been evacuated and ask that they continue to follow the advice of the local authorities and keep in touch with our teams."