Bedfordshire family walked miles in search of refuge after wildfires in Greece

A dad whose family was evicted from their hotel in Rhodes has described walking miles in search of refuge with his two young children as the terrifying wildfires on the island rage on.

Nick Stafford from Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire was on holiday at the Gennadi Grand resort in Rhodes, where he could see flames on the hills in the distance from the poolside.

He told ITV News he and his two children, aged seven and 11, were forced to walk miles in search of refuge after being told to leave the hotel on Saturday evening.

A kind local saw them and gave them a lift to another hotel where they say "every inch" of space is taken up by people looking for safety after being evicted from their hotels.

Mr Stafford told ITV News: "We're bearing up pretty well in the circumstances, I think the main issue we've got is frustration.

"There's a lack of knowledge of what we should or shouldn't be doing, everything feels very rushed or very last minute without any kind of planning and that's the main worry because we've never been sure if we're 100% safe or not. Even now.

"We've been lucky in some respects, because we were in an area that wasn't as badly hit as some others - we weren't in the heart of the fire - but nevertheless we were evacuated at 10pm last night and haven't been given any information about what to do from there."

On Thursday afternoon, Mr Stafford began to see smoke clouding the skies above the resort.

Hours later, he could see fire approaching as flames licked the hillsides and the sky turned dark with thick smoke.

The hotel experienced power cuts, and more and more people started arriving from other hotels that had already been evacuated.

Mr Stafford said: "Things just got worse from there. As the evening went on the power cut remained, the hotel couldn't do anything and the fire was clearly getting closer and closer. "Our kids were starting to get really nervous because as it got darker, you could really see the bright glow of the fire.

"So really, for their benefit that evening we decided to just pack a few essentials into some bags and changes of clothes etc and went to sit near the reception so we could see and hear what was going on.

"We had been there about three quarters of an hour or so when at 10pm the decision was made to evacuate the hotel.

"The hotel management gave us instructions to get out of the hotel, go outside to the car park. We were already at the entrance with some bags ready to go but we still have three suitcases that remain at the hotel - whether we'll ever see them again or not, I don't know."

He added: "The hotel management were doing their best, but they were sort of in the same position as us really. I think different tour operators had different approaches. Some had some sort of presence on the ground but most didn't.

"We were with British Airways and there was no guidance at all from them and very little I could get from them on the phone either, they just said get yourself to a safe space so there wasn't any transport coming for us - all the buses were other travel operators - so we made the decision to start walking.

"We walked, with our kids in tow and another couple that we met out here, to walk the seven or eight kilometres down the coast to another resort further down which is where we are now.

"We got about half way when a local man offered us a lift and he was shuttling back and forth helping people, doing a good turn, so we got here with several hundred other people - maybe even thousands, it's a big resort - every available inch of floor was taken by people looking to stay here.

"All the sun loungers outside had people sleeping on them overnight."

"When you get that sort of news, and you're in this situation, you go into a mode - not quite survival mode, but something close to it.

"The kids were petrified but putting on a brave face. My daughter didn't want to hear anyone talking about the fire, she just couldn't think about it.

"But at least we got a bit of sleep here last night and managed to get some bedding and make it as comfortable as we could.

"And we're still here with no idea of when we are going to be moving, if we're going to be moving, where we're going to be moving to.

"So we're just waiting to find out what to do, all the while looking at the horizon and wondering each time the wind changes if the smoke that we can still see is going to be getting closer once again."

Mr Stafford criticised the response from the UK Government, and from British Airways who he said have been difficult to contact, and haven't provided enough assistance.

He said: "I'm not sure if there's a degree of downplaying the situation or just a genuine lack of awareness of what the situation on the ground is really like.

"Because clearly, it's a lot worse than things are being made out.

"I don't know if people are hearing the words 'people are being evacuated safely' and thinking that it's all ok but what's really happened is that we've been evicted from our hotel and left to fend for ourselves.

"The only guidance is 'follow local guidance' but there's very little of that either.

"Most of the hotel staff know the same amount as we do and are just judging things as it happens and there's very little information on what is and isn't safe."

The UK Foreign Office has updated its foreign travel advice on the heatwaves and wildfires in Europe.

It said: "If you are a British national affected by wildfires in Rhodes, please follow the guidance from the emergency services. Call the Greek emergency services on 112 if you are in immediate danger.

"The Greek government has established a crisis management Unit to facilitate the evacuation of foreign citizens from Rhodes.

"They can be contacted on +30 210 368 1730. For 24/7 British consular assistance, call +4420 7008 5000.

"If you are planning to travel to Rhodes, please check with your travel operator or hotel prior to travel that the area you plan to visit is not impacted by the current wildfires."

Greece's ministry of foreign affairs has announced that it is coordinating with foreign embassies to assist those who are looking to leave the island.

Large parts of mainland Greece, plus the islands of Evia and Rhodes, have been designated as Category 5 - the highest for risk of fire outbreaks.

A further chunk of Greece has been designated Category 4 - very high risk.

In a statement provided to ITV News Anglia, British Airways said: "We’re very concerned about the situation in Rhodes and have been in contact with British Airways Holidays’ customers in the affected area to check they’re safe and provide assistance.

"Customers currently in Rhodes who want to come home early can change their return flight free of charge, and anyone due to travel out from the UK in the next week can change their flight to a later date. "We’ll of course keep the situation under review."

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