A BOLTON mum says she feels vindicated after a holiday firm decided to pull out of the Majorcan hotel where she and her family were struck down with a potentially fatal stomach bug.

Mother-of-two Michaela Walsh has hailed tour firm JMC's decision to suspend its operations at the Club Aguamar Hotel Complex, Calle de Mallorca, as a "victory for the consumer".

JMC has announced it is suspending future operations at the 1,600 room complex and has advised people staying there not to use the swimming pool.

The move comes after an outbreak of the bug cryptosporidium which tourists believed was being transmitted through the hotel pool.

The pool had previously been given a clean bill of health by Spanish authorities and inspectors from the UK.

But a spokesman for JMC told the BEN that results from tests conducted by UK health experts had since proved inconsistent, prompting the company to take action.

JMC has offered to fly home all the 1,114 British holidaymakers currently staying at the Aguamar and 120 have taken up the JMC's offer so far.

Michaela, 29, her husband Andrew, seven-year-old daughter Rochelle, who has cerebral palsy, and son Connor, 18 months, returned from their stay at the mid-range hotel a month ago.

She says the family is still feeling the effects of the stomach bug which could last for six months.

The family has started legal proceedings against JMC and Michaela says she knows of hundreds of people who have suffered.

"I am very happy with JMC's decision to effectively close the hotel," she told the BEN. "I was one of the first to publicly complain and call for the closure, so it is a victory."

"There have been problems at the hotel with different illnesses over the last few years and tour operators cannot continue to ignore this. It is advertised as a family hotel and part of its appeal is it is good for children, but you cannot continue to send people to a place where they are going to get ill."

JMC is contacting customers to offer compensation and is also contacting people who have booked to stay at the hotel later this year and next year.

The company has set up a hotline for customers if they have any queries: 0870 789 3919.