THE family of a holidaymaker who fell to his death from a balcony in Greece, are hoping a stalled court case looking into accusations of medical negligence will be heard this month.

The relatives of 24-year-old Christopher Rochester will travel to Rhodes in a couple of weeks, to see five Greek medics stand trial on September 24, accused of killing him.

It will be the third time the family have travelled to Rhodes expecting the trial to take place.

Mr Rochester allegedly bled to death unattended in a Greek hospital in June 2000 after falling 40ft from a balcony on the holiday resort of Faliraki, where he was visiting his brother Keith.

His family claim an ambulance took 40 minutes to reach Rhodes, where he was then 'bounced about' on a stretcher and left lying on a hospital trolley, despite being in severe pain.

His friend, David Vest, desperately fed him water from his cupped hands while Mr Rochester lay dying in the ward, bleeding to death from a fractured pelvis.

A post-mortem examination held later in Britain showed Mr Rochester should not have died from his injuries.

Mr Rochester's family and North Durham MP Kevan Jones have campaigned for years to have the medical staff brought before court.

The family travelled to the island last September for what was supposed to be the start of the trial, but it was adjourned because one of the three doctors, Sergios Paulidis, had not been properly summoned. He was working on secondment in a Moscow hospital. One of the two nurses was also absent. They all face charges of manslaughter by neglect.

The same medical workers again failed to attend Rhodes Town Court at another hearing in May and the lawyer for another defendant was called away to a higher court.

At the time, the earliest date the court could find for another sitting was September 24.

Kevan Jones will be travelling out with the family. He said the Greek legal system will require the defendants to provide a very good reason for adjourning a third time.

He said: "It is much less likely that it will be adjourned this time."

The adjournments particularly upset Mr Rochester's mother, Pam Cummings and his brother Keith, both of whom had prepared themselves to give evidence.

In the months between adjournments, the Chester-le-Street family have worked tirelessly to raise money to fight the court case.