A GREENOCK family had their holiday ruined by waiting 36 HOURS to get home from Turkey.

Rachel McShane said the 10-day getaway she enjoyed with her daughters Emily, five and Mirren, seven, and her partner Rebecca Moffat, turned into a 'nightmare'.

She was angered by the lack of care Emily, who is autistic, received during the day and a half wait to get home.

The family had forked out £3,200 on a Thomas Cook package holiday to a resort just outside Marmaris.

But instead of flying home as scheduled on Friday evening, the family didn't get home til 11am on Sunday.

Rachel, 25, of Pennyfern Road, said: "The journey home ruined our holiday.

"We can't even remember being there now.

"Emily says she doesn't want to go on holiday again.

"It was just so bad.

"I've never experienced anything like it in my life."

Rachel, who had requested special assistance for her daughter, said their ordeal began when they headed to Dalaman Airport at 8.30pm on Friday to catch their 11.30pm flight to Glasgow.

It was initially delayed by an hour - which turned into a three and a half hour wait on the airport floor.

Rachel said: "Once we got through to departures we noticed that there was no information on the board.

"We finally got a gate number at about 1am but then had to wait another 45 minutes.

"Nobody spoke English in the departure lounge and there were no Thomas Cook reps.

"Nearer 2am an announcement came over the tannoy saying that passengers for Glasgow, Gatwick and Stansted were to head to gate number 40 urgently.

"When we got there it was chaos, there were hundreds of people at the gate but nobody was there to speak to us.

"Everyone was lying on the floor.

"Emily started to panic as she needs routine.

"I'd obviously told her that we were going on a plane and we were flying home."

At about 3am, the family discovered their flight was cancelled.

Rachel and her family then endured a stressful journey back through security and outside the airport.

She said: "I felt like we were cattle getting pushed through the barriers back through passport control.

"It was horrendous.

"We were told we could fly to Gatwick and that a bus would take us back to Glasgow.

"But I knew I couldn't take Emily on an eight hour bus journey."

The family were then put on a bus and taken to a hotel for the night.

Rachel said: "On the bus there was no Thomas Cook rep so nobody had any idea where we were going.

"The following morning we were told that we might fly out at 11.30pm that night but we would get an update at 5pm.

"We went back to our rooms to try and get some sleep but at 1pm we were told we had to move out the room."

At 5pm they were told that they would be flying home that night.

The family eventually boarded the flight just before 12.30am but it was a full 90 minutes before they were airborne.

Rachel said: "We sat on the tarmac until 2am.

"The captain came on and said he was happy to fly us to Glasgow.

"He also said we would get complimentary drinks but would have to pay for food.

"We hadn't eaten since 5pm at the hotel and the airport was too expensive so we were very hungry.

"By this point Emily was a mess.

"She was sweating, feeling sick and just wanted to move.

"Everyone knew she had autism by this point but the cabin crew just didn't care.

"They could've helped her but they didn't."

Rachel said that just 10 minutes before they were due to land they were told the plane was going to Newcastle.

She said: "The captain said 'we regret to tell you we can't legally land in Glasgow due to our air miles running out'.

"Everyone erupted at that point.

"Emily was saying 'I just want to go home mum'.

"I was crying so I said to the cabin crew that I needed to get my daughter off the plane as she is irate and needs her medication."

Once they landed at Newcastle Airport at 4am UK time, the passengers had to wait in a huge queue for taxis.

Rachel said: "We were told that a Thomas Cook rep would be at arrivals but there was no-one there.

"Emily and Rebecca were both sick when they arrived at Newcastle due to exhaustion."

Rebecca's mum ended up driving all the way from Greenock to pick up the family and they eventually got home at 10.45am on Sunday.

Rachel said: "People had been standing waiting on taxis for over an hour and then the captain and cabin crew appeared at the top of the queue and got into four of the taxis.

"It was shocking."

Rachel complained to Thomas Cook and demanded a full refund plus expenses.

A spokesperson from Thomas Cook Airlines said: "We are very sorry that Ms McShane and her family experienced a long delay when flying home from their holiday.

"This was due to weather conditions in the UK delaying our scheduled departure from Dalaman.

"We recognise that the additional support that Ms McShane and her family needed during the delay was not good enough and have offered compensation."

The firm confirmed that the substitute flight was diverted to Newcastle Airport due to the 'crew running out of legal operating hours' and said coaches to Glasgow were not available due to the 'levels of disruption' at the airport and taxis were organised as 'quickly as possible'.