A Bridport man who was left fighting for life in hospital after getting Covid while on holiday has been flown back to the UK, his family said.

As reported, the family of Stuart Haskins launched a fundraiser so he could be repatriated and treated closer to home.

The 53-year-old dad fell ill a day before he was due to come back from Cyprus with wife Tracey.

His sister Lisa Tattershall said Stuart was flown back on Friday night in a private medical plane and was then due to transferred by ambulance to a local hospital.

She said: "Thank you to the Bridport News for covering the story of Stuart.

"The repatriation company we worked with were excellent and made his transfer as seamless as possible.

"We are hopeful Stuart will fully recover and we'd like to thank each and every one that kindly donated and everyone involved that made this possible."

The family had been liaising with repatriation companies recommended by the British Embassy which said that Stuart - who was diagnosed with double pneumonia and was being treated in an intensive care unit - needed to come home to a hospital in the UK to receive better care.

The family set up the fundraising page to raise money for a private airlift so Stuart could be treated in a hospital in England where the family believe he will be more comfortable and can be closer to him.

The couple had travel insurance but struggled to be able to get the repatriation service that is used by the insurer to help after running into issues.

Writing on the Justgiving page, Tracey said: "Thank you for all your prayers, kind words, donations and wonderful support. It’s because of you all that we have made this happen.

"We have had to take a loan out to cover the funds as we can’t withdraw money from the Justgiving page until two weeks after the page first started.

"As you can imagine we are experiencing extreme financial hardship due to the circumstances. Thank you all again so very much - Stuart, I and the family are eternally grateful."

As of yesterday the fundraising page had received almost £30,000 towards its £34,000 total. Tracey said she was going to close the page at the end of the weekend.

Stuart and Tracey both grew up and lived in Bridport before they moved away from the area five years ago to Trowbridge, Wiltshire where they work in a hotel.

They both attended Colfox School and Stuart was an active member of the Bridport Conservative Club and chairman for a number of years, even after moving away.

Stuart and Tracey visit Bridport often and have family living in the area.