Sheffield family set for quarantine after coronavirus wrecks expensive European holiday

Laurence Dolman and his family had switched to a camping break in Holland after the COVID-19 pandemic tore apart their original plans for a European tour this summer.

Now the family are facing a 14 day quarantine on their return to the UK in the early hours of tomorrow after the Government imposed quarantine restrictions on people coming into the UK from France, Holland and Malta last night.

The ruling comes into effect at 4am tomorrow – but the family’s ferry does not arrive back into Hull until 8.30am.

The BBC reported that the family had ‘enjoyed a week of ice creams and sunshine’ at a Eurocamp in Wassenaar, in the Netherlands.

Before the pandemic the family had spent about a year and a half planning a big trip around Europe for this summer, and they've lost a lot of money since it was cancelled.

So they decided to treat themselves to a smaller summer holiday, and carefully picked the Netherlands as what they thought was a "low-risk" place to visit compared with other European countries.

While Laurence, 41, and his wife Michelle, 40, have discussed "crazy ideas" about possibly being let off the self-isolation rules, due to "possibly being in British naval territory" by the cut-off time of 4am, they have "no regrets" about having to quarantine.

"We deserved this holiday," Laurence said, citing how difficult it had been home-schooling his children Henry, 9, Bethan, seven, and Eliza, three during lockdown.

Asked if they considered trying to get home early, he added: "No, we're just going to soak up our last bit of holiday."

"My wife and I have another week's leave before we are due to return to work. I'm fortunate that I'm able to work from home but as my wife is a social worker, it's a bit more of a problem for her".

Thousands of holidaymakers have rushed to return to the UK, with Eurotunnel trains selling out on Friday.