Solicitors Alexander Harris is representing the group of 284 Britons who paid thousands of pounds for holidays in Mexico last October, many of which resulted in days spent in storm shelters while the area was ravaged by Wilma.

Among the holidaymakers who contacted Times Online Travel after being stranded in Mexico during Wilma were Caroline and Roger Benson, who spent five days in a squalid storm shelter with two teenagers and three children under the age of ten, and had to rummage nearby streets for food. Angela Suman was on her honeymoon in Cancun with Thomson when Wilma struck and said she was trapped in a storm shelter for six days during which time she didn't see a Thomson rep, meanwhile Matthew Tennant and his wife had to tear up sheets to use as nappies while trapped in a shelter with their two young children. William Metcalfe kept a diary of his Mexico ordeal that was published at Times Online Travel, in which he describes his "seven days in hell", including hiding from prison escapees and sheltering in a cupboard.

Some of the holidaymakers involved in the group legal action believe that they should not have been flown to Mexico in the days before the hurricane struck, while others are unhappy about the treatment they received from holiday companies during the storm.

“We believe that in many cases, the tour operators should have known that they were unable to deliver these package holidays prior to the departure of their customers, and in these circumstances a refund should have been offered, rather than flying them into difficult circumstances,” said Simon Taylor, head of the travel law team at Alexander Harris.

He says some of the holidaymakers were already in Mexico when warnings were issued about the hurricane, but feel they have been inadequately compensated for what they regard as an abandonment of duty of care by their tour operators.

Letters of claim from Alexander Harris seeking compensation on behalf of the holidaymakers have been sent to Cosmos Holidays and the country’s four largest tour operators – Thomson, First Choice Holidays, Thomas Cook and MyTravel, which are licensed between them to carry nearly 12 million British holidaymakers each year.

Responding to the allegations, a spokesman for Thomson, which had 2,500 clients in Mexico when Wilma made landfall, says travel companies are not responsible for looking after holidaymakers in storm shelters. “Thomson runs hotels, not hurricane shelters. The Mexican Government issued the orders to evacuate to the shelters and was responsible for supplying food and facilities in the shelters,” he told Times Online Travel.

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In defence of allegations that holidaymakers should not have been flown to Mexico in the days before Wilma, Thomson says that the path of the hurricane took an unexpected turn. “There was never a weather warning for Cancun. The hurricane was over the sea and not over land – the airport never closed and our planes landed safely,” he said. In the past Thomson has cancelled flights due to weather warnings concerning hurricanes, including hurricane Ivan in 2004 and George in 1998.

A similar defence is offered by MyTravel, which claims to have sent its last plane to Cancun 48 hours before a warning was issued about Hurricane Wilma. The company also defends the treatment of its customers during the hurricane, claiming that it got all 3,133 customers out of Cancun within four days, with most being evacuated to the Dominican Republic before flying home. The company has dealt with customer refunds on a case-by-case basis and claims to have given refunds of up to 125 per cent of the holiday value, "as a goodwill gesture".

According to the Thomson spokesman, customers who arrived in Cancun and were taken straight to storm shelters have received a full refund already. But those who had a part of their holiday in a Cancun resort before being moved to a storm shelter can only expect a refund for the unused part of their accommodation.

Thomson, MyTravel and the three other travel companies have up to six months to respond to the claims, but Taylor says he hopes for an out of court settlement before then. “We are confident in our clients’ arguments and hope there will be an opportunity to discuss this with tour operators, but if nothing can be worked out then it could be a long process trawling through the courts,” he said.

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