A couple have said an airline put their lives in danger after they were flown into crisis-hit Tunisia to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary – despite the Government warning against all non-essential travel to the country the day before.

Robert Jenkins and his wife Allison were flown to the north African country by BA, oblivious to the fact tourists were fleeing the violence.

The Jenkins were flown to the country at 9.10am on Friday – on the same day Tunisia declared a state of emergency and just 16 hours after the Foreign Office officially warned British tourists not to travel to the country.

However, BA rejected claims it failed in its duty of care towards passengers and said it was the Jenkins’s responsibility to check the news before they travelled.

The couple were finally able to get a flight out of Tunisia on Tuesday morning, after four frantic days locked in their hotel waiting for BA to arrange a return flight – despite other airlines putting on extra services.

Speaking from their home in Mount Close, Fetcham, near Leatherhead, on Tuesday night, Mr Jenkins, 51, said: “BA has a duty of care to its passengers, which it completely neglected.

“We arrived at the airport completely oblivious to what was happening, and no one said anything to us.

“The airline knew it was non-essential travel because when we were on the flight we were offered champagne to celebrate our wedding anniversary.

“I can’t believe how badly we were treated, not just from the outset, but also when we were out in Tunisia”.

The couple had booked a six-night stay at a five-star hotel in the resort of Hammamet, 11m from the unrest in capital Tunis.

However, the couple said they were so busy leading up to the holiday they did not watch the news, and only learned of the situation when they arrived at the Averos hotel at noon on Friday.

Mr Jenkins said: “We saw a group of people milling around and one of them came up to us and said ‘What are you doing here? Are you mad?’”

The couple – who were with Mr Jenkins’s 59-year-old brother Richard and his wife Veronica, 61 – felt so threatened by the sound of gunfire they stayed in their room.

They called the BA hotline to arrange an early return flight, only to be greeted by a call operator who was still unaware of the problem, they claimed, two days after the Foreign Office warning.

According to Mr Jenkins, unlike BA, other airlines put on extra flights.

When contacted by the Epsom Guardian, BA said it was the customers’ prerogative to check the news before they boarded the flight.

A spokeswoman said: “There was a warning issued by the UK Government against all but essential travel to Tunisia late on Thursday evening.

“We assessed this information with our team at Tunis airport and made a decision that it was safe for our flight to operate and it departed early on Friday morning.

“If we hadn’t operated the flight on Friday morning we wouldn’t have been able to fly people keen to leave Tunisia on the return service on Friday afternoon.

“As the violence spread on Friday morning in different parts of the country, and we had clearer information, we put in place a more flexible booking policy to help customers with future travel plans.”

The couple are now demanding answers as well as compensation from BA.

Mr Jenkins said: “I will be writing to [BA chief] Willie Walsh personally.

“We spent £1,600 on the flights and hotel, not to mention the amount of money that went on calls back home.

“If the airline had told us, we could have cancelled our hotel and only lost the first night’s payment.

“Instead, we are now landed with a huge bill for a holiday we didn’t get the chance to enjoy. But the main thing is that we are alive and well.”