A heartbroken couple who set off for the trip of a lifetime ended up having the holiday from hell after being refused a visa in China.

Lesley and Henry Boyles, from Moor Row, had been planning a dream holiday for months to celebrate Henry’s 60th birthday.

However, it all turned to disaster when they were refused a 144-hour visa waiver in Beijing meaning they could not join their cruise ship Quantum of the Seas, owned by Royal Caribbean International.

Lesley said the couple, along with thousands of other holiday makers, were left stranded and even threatened with arrest if they did not leave the country.

“It was like being treated like criminals. We were absolutely heartbroken.”

The couple have travelled all around the world, but have never experienced anything like this.

At the moment they are almost £8,000 down with no one taking responsibility and no news of a refund, as they had to fork out an extra £2,850 just to get home.

They paid £4,558 to tour operator, Cruise.uk, who has given them just £219 back in transfers.

Lesley said: “Nobody wants to admit anything. We have been on to everybody.”

Her devastated husband Henry admitted this had destroyed his birthday, adding: “We’ve paid nearly £8,000 to go through hell.”

The couple were due to set sail on October 7, after spending a pre cruise stay in Beijing for three days before they joined the ship.

They had applied for a 144 hour visa free at Manchester, after having researched exactly what they needed and had even confirmed with the Chinese consulate.

Their paperwork was checked at Manchester and also again by Air China where it was confirmed to be in order.

But when they arrived in Beijing a handwritten notice was pushed in their face saying they had been denied entry. They were not given a reason why.

Lesley said: “You weren’t allowed to speak. It said on the note ‘you have been refused entry and have got 24 hours to get out of the country or you will be arrested’.”

They said the immigration officers were laughing and smirking.

The couple had boarded one of the first flights out to Beijing and found they were the only English people there, they were left alone and unaided.

So, with no help and no means of communication, they decided to get flights back to the UK as soon as possible, which cost an additional £2,850.

Lesley said they felt let down by all parties involved.

She said: “What’s really annoying me, is Royal Caribbean is still flying people out, to be refused entry. It was horrendous how we were treated."

Lesley is concerned that others will experience the same holiday hell.

She added: “We’ve been treated absolutely terribly. Our holiday insurance are saying they don’t think they can do anything because it is force majeure and out of their control, Royal Caribbean don’t want to know.

“We booked with Cruise.uk we’ve phoned and emailed them, we’ve paid all this money to them and ended up coming back on October 5.

“No one wants to admit to this ongoing nightmare and since we’ve been back it has been nine days of constant phone calls, it’s taken nine days to get Henry’s luggage back, it went to Venice.”

Lesley: “People who had full visas were getting refused entry, so why are they offering these cruises? It’s an ongoing thing this.”