LANCASTER holidaymakers caught up in a virus alert on board a Caribbean cruise liner have returned home safely.

One of the passengers, June Firth, of Caton, says up to 200 people were struck down by the bug - which US television reports initially suggested was a biological attack by Saddam Hussain.

Passengers were followed by men in full contamination suits spraying disinfectant as they went about their holiday on board P&O's latest cruise ship, the Oceana.

The bug was later identified as the virulent Norwalk virus and one island stop-off refused to let the 2,000 passengers disembark.

June and the Lancaster group boarded the ship in Florida and all was going well until the second half of the cruise when many people started to become ill.

"We were told we couldn't get off the boat," says June.

"We were watching CNN to see what was happening and they were talking about a biological attack by Saddam Hussain.

Then we saw a picture of our ship.

It was surreal and a bit ridiculous.

I think the American news reports were getting a bit carried away.

"We knew quite a lot of people were ill but nobody seemed particularly disabled when the captain announced that there would be a free bar."

She says health officials in paper suits wearing face masks and gloves followed them round, spraying disinfectant on hand rails and doors and anything else people touched.

Even the newspapers were waiter served, and the sick bay was absolutely packed.