A family say their vacation in the sun turned into a holiday from hell thanks to a catalogue of misfortunes.

Allison Hale and her family spent £6,000 on an all-inclusive two-week holiday in Ibiza.

They hoped it would be the holiday of their dreams. Instead they claim they had to contend with two bouts of suspected food poisoning and what they say was brown water coming out of the taps along with a sewage smell.

Miss Hale, who works as a shop assistant in Brighton, said: "The whole thing was disgusting from start to finish."

The Sirenis Atlantic Hotel in Es Cana, Ibiza, says it has strict hygiene standards and checks and received no written complaints from the family during their stay.

The Hale family is demanding compensation from First Choice, which has said it will investigate.

Miss Hale, 31, of Saunders Park View, went on holiday in September with her daughters Zoe, Georgina and Shannon, her parents Frank and Rita, sister Frances and nieces Danielle and Amy.

On arrival in Ibiza they checked into the Sirenis Atlantic and were warned about a broken tile around the swimming pool on which a child had cut his foot a few days earlier.

They also claim there was a smell of sewage in Frances' bedroom but the hotel only offered an air freshener to put in the room.

Miss Hale alleged: "Two days before we left we had nothing but brown water coming out of all the pipes. Every time we complained about anything we were told they would look into it but nothing ever happened.

"The worst thing was the food. We found fish heads and shells in the soup. The breakfast buffet was always cold.

"Everything was covered in oil and anything they didn't use at lunch was reheated for dinner. It was just awful."

She claims Frank and Amy both suffered food poisoning during their holiday.

But Margarita Vendrell, assistant manager at the hotel, defended its hygiene standards and insisted its restaurant was checked by inspectors every week.

She said: "We never re-use old food. Everything in the buffet is thrown away once it is used. The family may have seen the same type of food in the evening but it was not the same food.

"Of course, not everyone likes the same sort of food. One person may like eggs, while another does not. We cannot make everyone happy. As for the fish heads in the soup - it is a Spanish dish."

She admitted there was a broken tile on the edge of the swimming pool which had injured a child but insisted the problem was fixed within days.

She also admitted there was a problem with the plumbing in one of the rooms the family had used but said this could not be fixed at the time. The hotel was full so there was nowhere else for them to stay.

Miss Vendrell said most guests were entirely satisfied with their stay at the hotel and customer questionnaires revealed 94 per cent would be happy to return.

She added: "We are sorry that the same family had all the problems. They were just unlucky."

A spokeswoman for First Choice said the company took all complaints seriously and fully investigated every one, but insisted Miss Hale's concerns should have been raised with a resort representative.