A GWENT couple were left stranded in the Middle East after the Icelandic volcano spewing ash over Europe halted their journey home from Thailand.

Geoff and Susan Russell-Williams, of Bassaleg, Newport, have been holed up in a hotel in Abu Dhabi since Thursday.

The couple flew out to Thailand on March 28 and when they caught their return flight to Abu Dhabi to catch a connection to Heathrow, the brewing troubles in Iceland had yet to surface.

But when they landed, they saw their flight had been cancelled and were escorted to an information desk where they were told they would not be able to come home and it was unclear when flights would resume.

Mr Russell-Williams is a salesman at Newport Ford and was due to return to work on Friday, while his wife, 52, who works in the catering department at Newport's civic centre, was meant to be back at work on Monday.

The airline they flew with, Etihad, put the couple up in a hotel close to the airport and they have been told they are on constant two-hours notice for when flights resume.

The couple have two children, Crispin, 32, and Clair Barlow, 35, and this Sunday is their granddaughter Jasmine's 15th birthday which they are desperate to be back for.

Mr Russell-Williams said: "I'm missing my family; it's a horrible situation to be in when you want to go home but there's no way to get there - it's a bit frustrating and daunting."

This setback comes after Mr Russell-Williams pulled the lifeless body of a young Thai boy from their hotel pool in Bangkok on Good Friday.

The youngster, thought to be around nine, had entered the pool while it was unattended and drowned.

Mr Russell-Williams, 62, of St Basil's Crescent, was walking through the hotel when he heard a woman shouting 'lifeguard' he saw the boy face down in the water and jumped in to pull him out.

The lifeguards came and tried to resuscitate the boy, but with no luck: "It was heartbreaking, his body was totally limp - I knew he was dead," said Mrs Russell-Williams.

* CONSERVATIVE parliamentary candidate for Monmouth, David Davies' wife Aliz was left stuck in Brazil over the weekend.

Mrs Davies caught a flight to Madrid and is now trying to get back to the UK.