BRITISH TOURISTS CLAIM £600K AFTER SAFARI HOLIDAY NIGHTMARE

BRITISH tourists whose truck crashed in a safari park in Cape Town, South Africa managed to scare off a pack of lions by throwing their shoes at them.

Seven holidaymakers were trapped for 40 minutes as the beasts circled their overturned Land Rover.

They hurled their boots and shoes at the man-eaters to keep them at bay. Now they are claiming nearly £600,000 damages after their ordeal in the Sanbona Wildlife Reserve near Cape Town, South Africa.

One of the party was seriously hurt in the smash while others were bruised, left suffered from post-traumatic shock.

Michael Hawker, 71, of Solihull, West Midlands, said: “We were stuck there waiting for help with five lions circling us.

They were about a metre-and-a-half from us and one went off with my boot. It was terrifying.”

Their guide is accused of getting too close to the lions, then flipping the truck as she tried to reverse down a steep slope when one of the big cats charged.

The tourists also claim she panicked and collapsed in tears after the crash and took too long to call for help.

Susan Shearman, 36, of north London, said she thought she and her husband David would be eaten alive.

She added: “We found out the only reason the lions didn’t attack us was because they had eaten two wildebeest the day before and were not hungry. I did not think we were going to get out of it.”

The other victims included Richard Cornish, of Wimbledon, south-west London, who was on honeymoon with his manicurist wife Sandy.

He suffered internal bleeding, concussion and three broken ribs and was in hospital for a month. He is claiming £103,800 for lost earnings and medical bills.

The group have now lodged their legal papers at Cape Town High Court over their March 2007 nightmare.

A spokeswoman for the Sanbona Wildlife Reserve refused to comment.

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