With tension rising in the Middle East, STEPHEN LEWIS seeks advice for those who may be thinking of cancelling flights or holidays

THAT holiday in southern Turkey or Cyprus may have seemed a wonderful way to escape the winter blues when you booked it last year.

But with the escalation of tension in the Middle East as Britain and the U.S. gear up for war with Iraq, it might suddenly seem a less attractive proposition.

So, if you're having second thoughts about that already-booked holiday to southern Turkey - or even Indonesia, in the wake of the Bali bombings - what can you do about it? Will you be entitled to a refund, or a credit against an alternative holiday in future? Or will you simply lose your money if you cancel a holiday you have already committed to?

It all depends. Most holiday companies will have clauses in their terms and conditions detailing exactly what will happen in cases of "Force Majeure" - "Act of God" events that include war, riot, civil strife, terrorist activity, fire and adverse weather conditions - says solicitor Jonathan Mortimer, head of commercial litigation at Langleys in York.

"For example, it is commonplace for holiday contracts to state that if the holiday has to be cancelled before departure, the customer may be entitled to a full refund or to be offered an alternative holiday," he says.

"Alternatively, if the holiday can actually go ahead, but is subject to changes, the holiday contract may again spell out whether the customer is entitled to cancel, to get their money back, or to accept changes."

Be warned, however. These are general principles only, and you will need to examine the small print of any holiday contract to know what your precise legal entitlement is in the event of, for example, war breaking out, Mr Mortimer says.

The situation holidaymakers are in at the moment is rather different. No war has yet broken out, so holidaymakers who have second thoughts about a holiday they have already booked cannot rely on a Force Majeure clause.

It is therefore very much open to doubt, Mr Mortimer says, whether in the current climate holidaymakers would be entitled to cancel the holiday and get their money back. Once again, he says, it may depend on the fine print in your contract.

"As a general rule, even if hostilities have not broken out, if it appears to a reasonable person that the holiday is likely to be affected, a decision to treat the contract as effectively frustrated may well be justified," he says.

"However, you would really need Foreign Office warnings or something similar to avoid the area concerned because of the potential danger to justify a possible cancellation."

That is advice with which the Air Transport Users Council (AUC) - the consumer watchdog for the airline industry - agrees.

That organisation's first advice is to contact the Foreign Office for country-specific travel advice (see website address at the end of this article).

That is important because if the Foreign Office is warning that, for example, extreme caution is needed in travelling to a given country, it would bolster your case in asking for a refund, credit or alternative holiday.

"You could approach the airline and say: 'Look, I'm not too happy about travelling at the moment, but could I perhaps have a credit or a refund?' " says AUC spokeswoman Frances Walther.

The other thing to bear in mind is that if you do travel to a country where the Foreign Office has warned caution is needed, you may well find you are not covered by your travel insurance, Frances says.

Even if the Foreign Office has not issued a travel warning, it may still be worth talking to your holiday company, adds Mr Mortimer. "At the end of the day, holiday companies will be keen to review whether they want to proceed with the holiday as well in order to make sure that they do not put their own staff at risk. There may be considerable merit in meeting the holiday company to see whether they are prepared to be flexible in all the circumstances."

It will also be worth approaching your insurance company to see if you are covered for cancelling a holiday - again, it may come down to the fine print

What you must not do, Mr Mortimer adds, is let the blood rush to your head and suddenly cancel your holiday without looking into the matter properly.

"Terminating a contract is the most important thing you can do," he says. "All sorts of things follow from that. Do your homework first."

- The Foreign Office website at www.fco.gov.uk carries country-specific travel advice.

The AUC has a helpline that is open from 9am to noon and from 2pm to 5pm weekdays. Phone 0207 240 6061.

Updated: 08:59 Thursday, February 27, 2003