A MUM is demanding a full refund from a travel company after she and her autistic daughter were forced to endure a gruelling 36-hour flight delay.

Mum of two Rachel McShane says the day-and-a-half ordeal ruined her family holiday with partner Rebecca Moffat and the couple’s kids.

The family had enjoyed a 10-day Thomas Cook holiday in the popular Mediterranean resort town of Marmaris in Turkey before their holiday was thrown into turmoil.

Rachel and Rebecca, both 25, and daughters Emily, five, and Mirren, seven arrived at Dalaman Airport last Friday evening but didn’t get home until 11am on Sunday.

Their 11.30pm flight to Glasgow was cancelled on Friday due to bad weather and a replacement flight home was not scheduled until Sunday.

And the family claims just 10 minutes before being due to land in Glasgow – after the 36 hours delay, the flight was diverted to Newcastle.

Rebecca’s mum was then forced to drive three hours from Greenock to Newcastle to rescue the family.

Rachel, a telecoms worker, says the travel chaos ruined their first holiday abroad and left Emily, who has autism, traumatised.

The family from Greenock, Inverclyde are now seeking compensation after being left £150 out of pocket for expenses incurred by the delay.

Rachel said: “The original compensation they offered was £1,400 for the flight delay.

“Then they said we weren’t entitled to that because the flight was delayed due to weather.

“Then a manager from Thomas Cook said they would give us £1,500 compensation or £2,000 in Thomas Cook travel vouchers.”

Rachel says she wants the price of the holiday – which cost £3,200 – paid back in compensation.

She said: “The holiday was great but we feel like we weren’t away after the delay.

“My partner missed out on wages and Emily smashed her iPad on the plane home because she was cracking up, which will cost £600 to replace.”

Their Friday flight was initially delayed for an hour, before being extended to three-and-a-half hours.

Rachel said: “It was chaos at the gate there were hundreds of people but nobody was there to speak to us. Everyone was lying on the floor. Emily started to panic as she needs routine.”

The flight was eventually cancelled and the family was then put on a bus and taken to a hotel for the night.

At 5pm the next day they were told that they would be flying home that night and eventually boarded the plane at 2am.

But the flight was delayed on the tarmac for another 90mins.

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.”

Trouble struck again when the pilot informed the passengers that the plane was being diverted to Newcastle Airport – 10 mins before they were due to land.

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.

“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 company confirmed that the substitute flight was diverted to Newcastle Airport due to the ‘crew running out of legal operating hours’.

They also said coaches to Glasgow were not available due to the ‘levels of disruption’ at the airport and taxis were organised as ‘quickly as possible’.