ESCORTED out of Athens by gunboats and barred from Spain by armed guards was the sort of VIP treatment an Atherton cruise party didn't expect.

Seventeen days in the Med turned sour three days out from Southampton for brothers Harry and Brian Smallshaw, their wives Doreen and Kath and close friends Dave Dutton and his wife Lynn.

They were on board the £200 million P&O flagship Aurora and half their party was affected by the sickness which struck a third of the 1,800 passengers.

Now recovered from the effects of the noro virus, two wheeler dealer Harry, who runs ESB Motorcycles in Queen Street, Leigh related how they left Southampton on October 20.

"It must have been brought on the boat by a passenger," said Harry.

"Our first port of call was Palma in Mallorca but by then people had already reported they were feeling sick. I was the first of our group to be affected but not until we'd left Venice to go to Dubrovnik. I thought it was something I had eaten.

"I was violently sick, I've never experienced anything like it before. I sat for three hours in a waiting room full of unwell people then saw the doctor. I was given an injection which put me out of the picture for a day."

"My brother Brian was one of the worst affected, he's still suffering.

"At Athens, the Greek authorities wouldn't let us dock, a helicopter and two gun boats escorted us out of the bay!

"At Gibraltar it was heaven to set foot on land at last, even though the Spanish shut the border with armed guards to keep us out!

"Until we got to Venice it was very enjoyable. I couldn't fault P&O's service, the crew and staff were unbelievably helpful. About a third of the passenger list was affected but not all reported their illness to doctors.

"We made the best of it. There were people on the boat who did nothing but moan. like the couple from the 'wife swap' TV programme who were a real pain until we docked back in Southampton last Thursday."

But Harry can see the lighter side of the affair.

"We've had one or two jokers come in wearing masks and pretending to spray me but it really is a virus free zone. And Dave, who like his wife Lynn was unaffected, said if P&O compensated passengers it would probably be with a pallet load of toilet tissue!"