Solicitors today said they were taking legal action against tour operating company Airtours, after dozens of British holidaymakers were taken ill at a popular Mediterranean hotel.
Twelve guests, four in Spain and eight in Britain, have tested positive for the cryptosporidiosis bug, a waterborne parasite that causes severe diarrhoea and vomiting in humans.
But law firm Alexander Harris said around 150 holidaymakers at Hotel Alcudia Pins in Majorca have suffered the symptoms.
Tests this morning revealed that the hotel's swimming pool, which was drained and disinfected on Wednesday, was the source of the illness.
Ms Lesley Casey, a partner at Alexander Harris who was in Majorca on holiday when she was asked to deal with the case, said: "We will be informing Airtours and Direct Holidays by fax that we will be taking action against them and suing for damages.
Airtours said anyone staying in the hotel could fly home early but Ms Casey said she believed only those with formal medical diagnosis were able to leave.
"Guests are being offered £40 compensation for not being able to use the pool, which is derisory." She added: "The hotel was notified two and a half weeks ago that there were symptoms.
A spokeswoman for Airtours and sister company Direct Holidays, which has 2,178 customers at the hotel, said the pool had a state-of-the-art filter system but it was contaminated by someone who already had the bug in their intestine.
She added that chlorine did not destroy cryptosporidiosis. She said: "We have got eight customers in the UK who have tested positive for cryptosporidiosis. Four have tested positive in Majorca.
"We have told all our customers who were due to go to the hotel in next seven to 14 days.
PA