A DAD has spoken of his relief after he and his family returned ‘safe and sound’ from a holiday in earthquake-hit Kos.

Noel Boardman was forced to grab his three-year-old daughter and flee his hotel room when the quake - measuring 6.7 on the richter scale - hit on the third night of their last-minute break.

Two more large aftershocks struck two days later and Mr Boardman, from Blackrod, said he felt about 25 separate tremors during his week on the Greek island.

After arriving home on Wednesday night he told The Bolton News: “As soon as that plane left the tarmac I thought ‘yes, we are up now, we are away’, it was definitely a relief.

“It was on my mind there could be an earthquake when we were taxiing in the plane—they would stop it if there were cracks in the runway. But once we left the ground I sat back in my seatt and enjoyed a beer.”

Mr Boardman,said his experiences had deeply affected him. He said: “I think mentally I’m a bit traumatised by it , you can’t comprehend what you have come away from.

“Everyone we have seen since we got back said ‘thank god you are safe’.”