A publican has told of his nightmare of being dumped in a blizzard 500 miles from his holiday destination by Ryanair.

Terry Ronayne, 55, who runs the Highlander in Minster village on the Isle of Sheppey, was on his way to Plovdiv in Bulgaria where he has a holiday home.

But he ended up on a 16-hour coach ride from hell in freezing snow and with no food or water.

Mr Ronayne’s holiday horror began on Monday, February 26, when snow forced his flight from Stansted to be diverted to the remote town of Timisoara in Romania.

He said: “When we landed there was a blizzard and we were told we would spend the night in a hotel then fly to Plovdiv in the morning on the same plane. But it was a joke.

"Only pregnant women and some women with kids got a hotel room. The rest of us were told to wait. By this point it was 1.30am.

"Then we were told we would get a coach to Sofia but that ended up taking 16 hours and without any food or water. It was just a farce."

At one point a Bulgarian TV crew boarded the bus to interview the furious passengers.

Mr Ronayne said: “When the president of Bulgaria heard his residents were stranded he sent a military plane to get them.

"The rest of us had to put up with the coach journey which took us through the mountains. What started out as a jolly ended up a nightmare.”

He eventually arrived in Bulgaria 22 hours late but Ryanair has refused to pay compensation.

He said: “They have told me they got us there in the end so that's that. But we were freezing, had no food, no water, no care at all.”

A spokeswoman for Ryanair said: “The flight from London Stansted to Plovdiv diverted to Timisoara because snow closed Plovdiv airport and there were significant delays and airport closures across Europe, including nearby Sofia and Otopeni because of adverse weather.

"Coaches were organised to transfer customers from Timisoara to Plovdiv.

"As this flight was disrupted due to weather, no EU261 compensation applies but customers were advised they can submit a claim for any additional expenses incurred as a result of the diversion.

"Ryanair apologised to customers affected by these extreme weather-related disruptions which were entirely beyond our control."