A GROUP of Oxfordshire tourists stranded in India by the coronavirus lockdown are pleading for the British Government to get them home.

Steven Gharu, 51 and his wife Lyn Sharen Allsworth, 59 from Garsington, travelled to India for a family wedding. The couple are now stranded in a Delhi hotel with their friends Suzanne, 59 and husband Ronald, 64. The couple, who asked for their full names to be withheld, are retired and live in Abingdon.

After multiple flights back to the UK were cancelled due to the pandemic, the group have effectively been left under house arrest in Delhi, unable to leave their hotel and relying on room service for meals.

Mr Gharu has diabetes and Suzanne and Ronald have heart conditions and are concerned they will not be able to get their medication.

Mr Gharu said: “We are all at risk because of the conditions out here if we need hospitalisation or our medication runs out."

He said it was a frightening situation, adding: “It is dead outside; you’ve got over 1.3 billion people in India and it is deserted. There are only a handful of people are out there."

Appealing for help, he said: "If I were to write to my MP now, I would say 'look we are British citizens, that is our country and it is your duty for our care and welfare'.”

The tourists have since found out their hotel will be closing on April 1 –leaving them with nowhere to stay.

Suzanne said: “We are concerned because we have walked down the road and asked at various hotels along the strip whether they are going to remain open and the security guards have said that they are closed.”

She added: “We want to get home to our family even if we have to go into quarantine. We’re in our room probably 23-hours a day and we see the planes going past and we think 'Oh my goodness, why can’t that be us?'”

John Howell MP for the Henley constituency, which includes Garsington, said: “I have enormous sympathy for those who are stuck in countries at this time and I completely understand their worry over this. We know they are feeling terrified and lonely. My office and I have been trying to help a large number of constituents including Steve and Lyn.

“In addition, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office around the world is working urgently to ensure that governments have sensible plans to enable the return of British nationals and other travellers, and, crucially, to keep borders open for a sufficient period of time to enable returns to take place on commercial flights, wherever possible.”

Layla Moran MP for Oxford West and Abingdon said: “I am aware of Mr Gharu and Mrs Allsworth’s case, and that they are currently stranded in India along with some of my constituents, during the lockdown there.

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“I have been in contact with my constituents, advising them to register with the High Commission there, and have raised their case, as I have for other constituents also stuck in India, as a matter of urgency with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. I have asked to them to ensure that Mr Gharu and Mrs Allsworth are in touch with their own MP also. I am in close touch with the FCO and my constituents, to ensure that they are safe and that they can get home as soon as possible.”