A FAMILY have spoken of their relief after tour operators cancelled their holiday to trouble-plagued Kenya - just two days before they were due to fly out.

Loretta and Ian Gill, of Chipping Sodbury, were on tenterhooks until this morning when First Choice said their two week trip with their seven-year-old son Matthew to the African country was not going ahead.

The family had become increasingly anxious due to the political unrest in the country and the tour operator's initial decision to not cancel the trip.

They were also told they would only receive a 10 per cent refund of the £3,000 they paid for the holiday if they decided not to go.

"The call was a huge relief for all of us," said Mr Gill. "We had been watching news of problems in the country and had become more and more nervous with the departure date getting closer.

"We were on tenterhooks, my wife was not sleeping well or eating properly.

"I very much welcome the cancellation but at the same time do feel it could have been made a lot earlier.

"We could have been much more at ease this week knowing we were not going."

Mr Gill said he was unsure if the family would have gone ahead with the holiday, had First Choice stuck to its original decision not to cancel it.

First Choice had said the holiday was safe because the area, Kikima, they were visiting had not experienced trouble.

They were to fly to Mombasa and be given a police escort from the airport to their hotel.

The holiday was a present to the couple's son Matthew after he broke his arm in October last year.

Mr Gill added: "If it was just me and my wife we would have gone. It was taking Matthew with us which we were concerned about.

"The last thing we wanted was to travel with a young child into a country which could potentially erupt into war.

"But if we cancelled we would have lost all the money and would have been left with no holiday this year."

The Gill family have been told by First Choice they are to be offered an alternative holiday.