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Coronavirus: Bath backpacker desperately trying to get home

Jazz Turner Jazz TurnerJazz Turner
Jazz Turner from Bath says she wants to get home to her family after seeing two flights cancelled

A British backpacker staying in an Australian hostel says she "just wants to be with her family" after two flights home were cancelled.

Jazz Turner, 28, from Bath, has another flight booked for 8 April, but says she is not confident it will go ahead.

She is staying in Adelaide after working and travelling around the country for the past 18 months.

"There's no way anyone can get any work. Everything is shutting down and the atmosphere is strange," she said.

Ms Turner had booked two flights after British nationals were urged to come home due to the coronavirus pandemic.

"I'm in an independent hostel and luckily the owners are letting me stay and clean so I don't have to pay rent," she said.

Jazz Turner Jazz TurnerJazz Turner
Miss Turner worked at a banana farm in Tully, Queensland, for several months

She left the UK in October 2018 and after extending her visa for a second year, was due back in October 2020.

Miss Turner said flight prices were now "ridiculous", with some more than £2,000.

She said she had contacted the British Embassy but they only told her to "stay safe" and that there was "nothing more they could do at the moment".

"I just want to be with my family and ride this out with them and be together," she said.

'Feeling more and more helpless'

Bath MP Wera Hobhouse has raised Miss Turner's case with the Foreign Office.

"I will continue working to ensure that all my constituents are able to return home safely," she said.

Miss Turner's parents Ali and Nigel said they "really want their daughter back" but were feeling "more and more helpless."

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told MPs on Tuesday the UK had an agreement with Singapore for it to act as a transit hub to help those trying to get back from Australia and New Zealand.

The Foreign Office said it was "working around the clock" to support British travellers.

"We recognise British tourists abroad are finding it difficult to return to the UK.." it said.

"The government is seeking to keep key transit routes open as long as possible and is in touch with international partners and the airline industry to make this happen."