A woman dying from cancer who faced threats of arrest over a hotel bill after the collapse of travel firm XL returned home from Egypt last night.

A woman dying from cancer who faced threats of arrest over a hotel bill after the collapse of travel firm XL returned home from Egypt last night.

Cherry Dodgson, 49, was on her last holiday before she died but said she was told by the manager of the hotel in Sharm el Sheikh that she would have to pay an extra £1400 or face arrest if she tried to leave. Mrs Dodgson, from Wells, Somerset, is in the final stages of lung cancer and had cashed in her life-savings for the holiday with eight of her family and friends.

But after XL went bust last Friday Mrs Dodgson was not sure how she would get home and was forced to scrape together extra money following demands from the hotel.

The Civil Aviation Authority has now said that it will ensure that Mrs Dodgson and her party get a full refund and that the hotel will be paid by the company's administrators.

Speaking from her hotel yesterday, Mrs Dodgson said: "This was supposed to be my final holiday with my family before I die and it has been ruined. It has been absolutely horrendous, physically and mentally I feel worse than I ever have, I'm really not well at all, but all I want to do is get home.