Rhodes fires: Holidaymaker finds hotel closed before he left UK

Thousands of people have been evacuated due to wildfires across the island of Rhodes

A holidaymaker said he landed in fire-hit Rhodes to learn his hotel had been closed for safety hours earlier.

Brian Ryan, of Worcester, arrived on Saturday to find his hotel had shut "a couple of hours" before he had left the UK.

He said he had not been informed of the fires by travel company TUI despite his hotel being near the affected area.

A spokesperson for TUI said the safety and well-being of customers and teams remained the top priority.

"We'll continue to work with the relevant authorities to do all we can to support and are working on plans to get customers home," they added.

The holiday provider added that it had cancelled all flights to the island until Friday.

Brian Ryan, from Worcester, said he was given "no information" from TUI representatives

An estimated 19,000 people have been forced to leave their homes in Rhodes as firefighters battle to contain huge wildfires.

Mr Ryan and his family had travelled to the island from Bristol Airport to find "absolute chaos" as hundreds of people attempted to escape from the flames.

Upon arrival, he was told he was unable to go to his hotel as it had been evacuated, due to being located a mile from the fire.

'Get out and run'

"The most hardening part of the situation is we got on the flight with good faith, [we] hadn't been aware of what was happening over here," he said.

"We started hearing the stories of what happened at our hotel and a lot of the other hotels, where people were literally just told to get out and run."

Mr Ryan and his family were taken by coach to a stadium before being taken to another hotel.

But he said he had been given "no information" from TUI representatives and would not have taken the flight if he had known his hotel was affected.

"If that information had been given to us, we'd be still be in the UK watching from afar," he added.

Tim Catley was holidaying in Lardos when he was told his family needed to evacuate the hotel

Thousands of people have been forced to flee Rhodes by land and sea, with many tourists left in limbo.

A number of tour operators have cancelled flights to the island.

'Out of control'

Tim Catley, from Solihull, was holidaying in the village of Lardos with his partner and three children when he had received a text to say they needed to evacuate.

He said he arrived back at his hotel to find "utter chaos" and "hundreds" of people waiting outside for coaches to arrive.

"As we were leaving the site, it was becoming engulfed in smoke, ash was everywhere," he told BBC WM.

Mr Catley said he had eventually managed to speak to TUI representatives, but he was told that no alternative accommodation was being provided "at this time".

After finding temporary accommodation through a local residents group, he has booked a flight home from the island on Monday.

Wind and high temperatures have caused wildfires to spread across the island

"The way things are at the moment, the island needs as much help as it can get," he added.

"It's currently out of control and they're still trying to contain it."

Natalie Woods, from Warwick, said her sister Kaylee and nephews were holidaying in Rhodes after being told it was "perfectly safe" to travel at the airport.

The family, from Radford, Coventry, had flown out to the island on Wednesday.

Ms Woods said her family had questioned TUI representatives at the airport over whether the trip was safe.

"They were told it was perfectly safe, that was their words," she told BBC CWR.

Hundreds of tourists are waiting at the airport to fly back to the UK

The family had been evacuated from the hotel but have since returned, after being told the fire had moved.

"It's been a horrible 48 hours, very traumatic, but the main thing is they're safe and they're well," Ms Woods added.

Up to 10,000 UK nationals are estimated to be on the Greek island, with further repatriation flights set to take place.

'All the emotions'

Andrew and Emily Brittan, from Tamworth, Staffordshire, had flown out to Rhodes on Saturday to attend a cousin's wedding.

The recently married couple had then planned to travel to the resort of Pefkos for their honeymoon, but were instead taken by coach to an evacuation camp.

Warehouse operative Mr Brittan, aged 27, said it was thanks to local people they had food and drinks while there.

They landed back at Birmingham Airport shortly after 09:00 BST on Monday.

Mrs Brittan said she had had felt "all the emotions", including sadness that they had not had their dream honeymoon and frustration at the lack of information they had received, but also relief that the pair were safe.

Andrew and Emily Brittan had seen the blaze from the window of their plane

A spokesperson for TUI added: "Our teams on the island are doing everything they can to provide assistance to TUI guests.

"Over 300 reps, drivers and service colleagues and doing their utmost to help where they can, working alongside the amazing local community and emergency services."