A Colchester couple were told to stay in their hotel on a dream holiday as riots rocked Jamaica.

Ron and Marianne McKeon, of Jessica Close, Greenstead, got caught up in the drama while on the two-week luxury break.

In downtown Montego Bay, just over a mile from their all-inclusive hotel, trouble flared, cars were overturned and fires started.

All day trips for tourists were cancelled and they were advised to stay in the hotel.

The warning was one of many which left thousands of tourists on the Caribbean Island trapped in resorts after protests against hefty petrol duty and vehicle license increases were marked by rioting and looting.

The trouble left at least six people dead and dozens injured. Flights to and from London were cancelled at the height of the trouble a week ago.

But Mr and Mrs McKeon managed to get home safely and flew back to England as scheduled on Tuesday.

Mr McKeon, a Colchester Council housing officer based at the Greenstead office, said: "We stayed in for three days but we didn't let it ruin our holiday. We didn't do a few day trips that we would have liked to have gone on, but there was so much to do at the hotel we made the most of it.

"One couple in our hotel went on a trip and they had to turn back as a mob came across the road and started overturning vehicles and pouring petrol.

"And another girl went to the bank in downtown Montego Bay and came out to see a mob charging down the street. We decided it was better to stay in.

"It must have been worse for people self-catering or staying in hotels where there were not so many activities laid on."

The couple, who married last year, had returned to Jamaica after spending their honeymoon there.

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