AN ANDOVER couple who were left ‘stranded’ in South Africa when the government reintroduced a red list for travel have said the lack of support offered by the UK government is ‘disgraceful’.

Charity volunteers Nicola and Graeme Scott have been hit with a £4,000 bill after South Africa was added to the new red list for travel to the UK following the emergence of the Omicron variant, and PCR and quarantine hotel requirements introduced.

The pair, of Mead Road, Andover, were volunteering at Dullstroom Bird of Prey & Rehabilitation Centre, around three hours east of Johannesburg.

Graeme, who is a pilot but is currently on furlough and working with the Hawk Conservancy Trust, has been volunteering with the charity for the past eight years.

The 42-year-old decided that, with travel restrictions eased, he and his wife Nicola, 51, - a self-employed gardener - would take a trip out on November 16, to offer their support to the cause.

However, at the end of last week, they discovered that South Africa had been included, along with five other countries in southern Africa, on the newly reintroduced travel red list.

Between stints of volunteering, the couple had taken a trip to Safari at Kruger National Park. They had very little phone signal there, and were met with dozens of messages on their return.

“We had lots of messages on our phones from friends and family, because they had stopped all the flights at that time,” said Graeme.

“We were meant to land back in London yesterday [Thursday, December 2], but though our flight wasn’t cancelled, we couldn’t get a PCR test or quarantine hotel booked on time.

“Thankfully, we were able to move our flight free of charge, the airline has been brilliant, but we had to arrange finance just to pay for the quarantine hotel.

“We thought, how on earth are we going to pay for this, and why should we be paying for it? In the end we were able to contact our credit card company, but it’s debt and we are still going to have to pay it. We are both losing money as we can’t work in December, and now we have to pay £4,000.”

Nicola added: “I felt quite gutted because [as we were booking our quarantine] it was pushing nearer and nearer to Christmas. I can’t even think about our house in Andover because it makes me cry.”

The couple are staying with friends at the charity, and the area is currently experiencing storms, causing power cuts and unseasonably cold weather.

They will now land back at London Heathrow on Thursday, December 9. Their ten-day stay at the Leonardo Hotel has cost £3,715, plus additional expenses including extending their car hire, and a night at the airport in Johannesburg before an early flight.

“We are going to be in a tin can for ten days,” said Graeme. “It’s a very nice tin can, but a tin can all the same!”

As well as the financial strain, the couple feel that support to arrange everything, and to make sure British nationals can safely return home, has not been adequate from the UK government.

“The embassy here is utter rubbish, they aren’t even here, everything is forwarded to London and it’s only for emergencies. It’s absolutely disgraceful,” said Graeme.

“These six African countries are restricted, but there are problem areas in Europe too. Why are we being picked on? We are being punished.”

Nicola added: “Everywhere we have gone while we have been here has been so safe. We are getting our temperature taken, we cannot enter a shop without a mask and sanitising our hands. They have kept that going the whole time.”

Referencing a Facebook group which is connecting people all in the same position, she added: “[The government website] is worded in a way that we planned to go to a red list country, and it’s frowning on you.

“In the briefings, no one in the government has mentioned that people are stuck here. Boris Johnson said people coming into the UK would have to quarantine at home, but we have not been mentioned, those of us stranded here.

“We feel we are being bullied. If we had knowingly gone to a red list country we would expect this, you would put it in your finances. And there’s no mental health help. What we need is some kind of helpline, someone to talk to, because it’s scary!

“If we have to quarantine to be safe, that is fine, but it’s why on earth should we pay when we have done nothing wrong.”

Graeme added: “How can they expect people to gain confidence in the travel industry again? You need to give them some security.”

Graeme and Nicola are hoping to set up a fundraiser to help raise the money, with any additional profits going to charity. They are planning to set themselves “funny challenges” during quarantine, to pass the time and raise awareness and funds.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office told the Advertiser that the government continues to offer tailored consular assistance to British nationals overseas in need 24/7.

They added that British nationals currently in South Africa and affected countries should make use of the commercial options available if they wish to return to the UK.