A YORK family endured a nightmare end to their dream holiday in Ibiza when they were delayed for more than 37 hours and forced to stay in a "doss house" in the Spanish island's party capital.

Widower Barrie Shipley, 55, and his three young children, Chloe, 12, Kirstie, ten, and James, seven, of York Road, Haxby, had enjoyed a Direct Holidays trip to Port Le Torrent and were due to fly into Leeds Bradford Airport at 3am on Friday.

Their nightmare began when:

They were forced to wait in Ibiza airport for 11 hours before boarding their plane

The pilot suddenly slammed on the brakes as they sped down the runway

They had to sit on the plane, minus its air conditioning, for two hours in blazing heat while the technical problem was looked at

They had to wait for a further five hours before boarding a coach to overnight accommodation.

They were placed in a flat in the middle of San Antonio surrounded by young revellers - including a couple having sex on the opposite balcony.

Barrie said the uncomfortable wait at the airport was bad enough, because they were given little information about what was happening.

But the situation got even worse when they arrived at accommodation in San Antonio at 1am on Saturday.

He said: "Some people had nice hotels, but we ended up in a doss house right in the middle of San Antonio, where all the young people were.

"The kids were worn out and bewildered by now, and slightly frightened because they didn't know what was going to happen. I just put them all into bed.

"I looked out from the balcony and there were people falling all over the place - there was even a couple having sex on the balcony opposite.

"I must have fallen asleep because I woke at 7am and all was quiet."

The family was picked up at 1.30pm and got on the same plane, apprehensively, at about 4.30pm.

Barrie said: "When we got into the air there was a great cheer - the loudest I have heard - and again when we landed at about 8pm.

"The kids were upset, but so relieved to be home."

A spokesman for MyTravel Airways, which operated the flight, said safety of passengers was of paramount importance.

He said: "MyTravel Airways has experienced a number of flight delays over the weekend due to the knock-on effect of two aircraft developing technical faults.

"We would like to apologise to any customer who has, or is experiencing delays during this peak holiday season. We are working very hard to rectify these delays, and are confident that normal service will be resumed as soon as possible."

Thirteen British holidaymakers refused to fly home to Leeds Bradford airport in an aircraft on which a pilot spent seven hours repairing a fault, it has emerged.

The passengers were delayed at Minorca airport in Spain after the Boeing 757's onboard computer indicated the plane was airborne, despite being on the tarmac.

After the pilot and engineers repaired the faulty indicator, 13 passengers chose not to board the MyTravel flight back to Leeds-Bradford airport on Friday.

Updated: 10:40 Tuesday, August 12, 2003