A father is demanding a full refund after his young daughter spent most of their family holiday in hospital.

James Miller, of Bramble Gardens, Burgess Hill, and his wife Catrina decided to take their son James, 13, and daughter Natasha to Tenerife for a week to celebrate the little girl's eighth birthday.

They booked the £1,500 trip at travel agent Going Places in Churchill Square, Brighton, and also bought a travel insurance policy through the firm.

On the day they arrived in Tenerife, Natasha complained of an upset stomach. The next day, her eighth birthday, she was sick and had to spend the day in bed.

Mr Miller, 44, said: "On the evening of her birthday she threw up again and did not stop being sick until the next morning. She is a diabetic so this was a major problem. We called a doctor who looked at her and said she needed to go to hospital.

"She was seriously ill in hospital for four days and we spent the whole time looking after her. She was discharged in time for us to have one full day of holiday but even then all she could do was rest.

"The holiday was ruined from the first day. In fact, we did not have a holiday. We wanted to go out there and have a good time and celebrate her birthday in the sunshine but it went wrong from the start."

Mr Miller said he believed the travel insurance he took out through Going Places covered the family if any of them fell ill.

So when the family got home he applied for a refund, saying the holiday had been curtailed through Natasha's illness.

He said: "The people at Going Places seemed to think there would be no problem because our whole holiday was ruined. But then we heard from the insurance company, who said the holiday had not been sufficiently curtailed for us to be entitled to our money back.

"I could not believe it. We received a cheque for about £100 or so to pay for the cost of the hospital and the doctor and that was it.

"We were told our daughter would have had to have been in hospital until the very end of the holiday for us to claim for curtailment. It was only one day difference.

"I went bananas. I told them what cover we needed and that my daughter was diabetic and they assured us the policy we bought would be enough for the holiday.

"As far as I'm concerned we didn't have a holiday so the insurance company should pay us the full £1,500 we paid to go away."

A spokesman for Going Places said: "We are still investigating the matter and hope we can bring it to a swift and satisfactory conclusion."