A man from East Lancashire and his friend are stranded on a cruise in the Antarctic due to fears surrounding coronavirus.

Posting publicly on Facebook, Christina Vaughan said she and her friend Andrew Derbyshire, from Burnley, are on board a cruise ship that has not been granted permission to land in Argentina or Uruguay because both countries have gone into lockdown

She said: "A little update for you all asking about Andrew and I.

"The ship we have been on has been in the Antarctic for three weeks and there is no sign of sickness or illness on board.

"In fact our standards of health and hygiene are the best in the world and we have an exceptional crew who are specialists in the region.

"The issue is most of South America has gone into lockdown and are refusing all of us entry to get flights back home.

"We are trying to find a friendly port to welcome us.

"We have provisions and fuel but just need to find where we can go and when.

"Thank you for all your concern and we will try and update you as and when we know.

"We are safe and we are well and we will keep your spirits up by love and friendship with which we are both blessed.

"Hope to come home soon, lots of love Christina and Andrew."