A FIXBY couple were looking forward to a dream cruise around the Med.

But instead Mr George Nash found himself confined to bed with severe vomiting and diarrhoea as norovirus swept the liner.

And both he and his wife Marion had their holiday cut short, leaving them missing out on a much-anticipated visit to Malta.

Now the couple, of Kennedy Avenue, are among 134 claimants in a massive High Court action against cruise giants, Fred Olsen Cruise Lines, which could potentially cost the company millions of pounds in compensation.

In a joint writ issued at London’s High Court and just made publicly available, the claimants alleged they picked up the deadly sickness bug, norovirus.

The test case for which no court date has yet been fixed, is potentially worth easily in excess of £1m and could run to much more.

One claim is by a woman who says her husband died as a result. The other claimants allege they were victims during nine outbreaks of norovirus on the 880-passenger luxury cruise liner Boudicca, between October 2009 and April 2010.

Mr Nash – who also suffered a badly-injured foot on board – said: “It was far from the holiday cruise we expected.

“We had cruised before and knew what to expect but this was totally different.

“I guess at one point some 50% of the passengers were ill with nororvirus. I was in bed for two days and unable to get off the ship.