A group of British holidaymakers were diagnosed with stomach illness after attending a family wedding at a five-star resort abroad.

Around 24 people reported suffering from vomiting, diarrhea and fever after staying at the TUI Blue Sensatori Atlantica Aphrodite Hills Hotel in Kouklia, Cyprus.

These include Charlotte Warner, 29, and her partner Paul Richard, 40, who flew to the hotel for the wedding on October 11 last year.

Charlotte was fine until the last day of her two-week stay, when she suddenly suffered from vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, fever and headache.

She collapsed on the way through the airport and when she returned to the UK her GP diagnosed her with gastroenteritis.

Charlotte said: “I have never been this ill before, but we knew we had to get to the airport somehow.

“We didn’t know what else we would have done, especially since we had to take care of our young son.

“I was still feeling bad days later and my family doctor said there wasn’t much that could be done except to make sure I drank enough fluids.

“I literally couldn’t do anything for myself, I was completely devastated.”

Charlotte says she has experienced food being left uncovered at the buffet and the same dishes being served more than once.

She also claims that new ingredients were added to old dishes and that some items on the buffet appeared visibly undercooked or moldy.

Charlotte, from Brighton in East Sussex, added that there were a lot of flies and birds in the restaurant area and that feral cats would go onto the tables.

The mother of one said: ‘The whole family was looking forward to going away for the wedding and thankfully the big day itself passed without incident.

“We all had expressed our concerns about the food and hygiene standards in the hotel, especially for a five-star hotel.

“We had heard that others were sick, but until the day we were supposed to come home, we all seemed fine.”

A 31-year-old woman and a 32-year-old man, who wish to remain anonymous, also traveled to the hotel for the same wedding.

However, the woman was so ill that she missed her flight and was taken by ambulance to the hospital, where she was diagnosed with bacterial gastroenteritis.

The marketing manager had to spend two more nights in another hotel before she was allowed to fly home to Bournemouth, Dorset.

She said: “We were really looking forward to this trip because of the family wedding and as an opportunity for a two-week holiday in the sun with family and friends in a five-star hotel.

“It seemed like a perfect combination, but these last few days mean I will remember this holiday for all the wrong reasons.

“When I got to the airport I knew they wouldn’t let me on the plane, but by that point I was so sick it didn’t matter anymore.

“I was so scared and when the ambulance came I feared the worst.

“It took weeks for me to feel like myself again.

“The medical costs also came to £1,800 (about $1,966), but at least I’m here to tell the story.

“I shudder to think what would happen if an elderly person or a child experienced what I experienced.

“Nothing can make up for what happened, but the least I deserve is answers.”

Jatinder Paul, an international lawyer specialising in serious injuries at Irwin Mitchell, has called on anyone who was staying at the hotel at the same time to come forward.

He said: “Our clients were all looking forward to a family wedding in a luxury hotel, but it was ruined when some of them came down with gastroenteritis at the end of their stay.

“The impact of these diseases should not be downplayed as they can have serious long-term health consequences.

“Understandably, our clients have many questions about how they became so ill.

“We are now investigating their cases to get the answers they deserve.

“When our investigations identify problems, it is important to learn from them to prevent other holidaymakers from having similar experiences in the future.

“As far as we know, several other people in the hotel fell ill at the same time.

“As part of our investigation, we would like to hear from anyone else who stayed at the hotel at the same time.”

TUI was asked for a statement.