AN UNDERGRADUATE whose luggage was lost when she returned from studying in America is waiting to hear whether her university studies will be affected.

Katie Jones, 19, of Pocklington, had been studying American Studies in New Orleans for four months before she flew back to England in December - only to find that her two suitcases had not returned with her.

Ms Jones' suitcases, which contained about £2,500-worth of belongings, failed to materialise after she landed at Gatwick Airport.

Ms Jones told The Press she was angry about the luggage loss, but would much rather have the contents returned than get compensation. She said this was because her university required proof of the work she had done abroad in order for it to count towards her degree.

Ms Jones, a student at Keele University, said: "I have emailed the university explaining my situation, but they have not come back to me yet, unfortunately. I am hoping I will find a way through it and hope they have some kind of policy for this type of situation.

"I think it will have an impact on my studies, as the work I had done in America would be really useful to have here. I was planning on using the information in my dissertation."

She said she had come to terms with the fact that she was not going to get any of her work back.

Katie's father, Sean Jones, 49, said: "We have moved on from wanting to get Katie's luggage back to trying to get compensation from British Airways.

"The biggest worry is that it was her university work, which looks like it is gone.

"British Airways told me last week that they would put a claim through and get back to us as quickly as they could.

"This could set my daughter back. We don't know what the impact is going to be at the moment.

"It was an awful lot of work that she did in America."

A spokesman for British Airways said: "We apologise to all customers for any delay to their bags. During December, the disruption caused by the dense fog and baggage belt breakdowns at Heathrow led to problems with airport baggage systems and processes.

"We have been working around the clock and have drafted in volunteers to help return bags to their owners. The majority of bags have now been returned to their owners."