A NORTH-EAST couple caught up in Hurricane Wilma arrived home yesterday after sheltering in a Mexican brothel for nearly a week.

Claire Kavanagh and Paul Wheldon were forced to share a room with seven other people in the brothel while the storm passed by.

Although they are grateful to a hotel worker who brought them food and water, on some days the evacuees had only cornflakes and rice to eat.

Yesterday, back home in Darlington, Miss Kavanagh, said some people had lost so much weight during the ordeal, their clothes no longer fitted them.

She also described their 45-hour journey home through flood water and devastation wreaked by the hurricane.

"Thousands of Mexicans were queuing for the Red Cross. Lots of people lost their homes - it's so sad," she said.

After ten days near the resort of Cancun, Miss Kavanagh, 20, who works in The Northern Echo's canvassing department, and Mr Wheldon, 34, were evacuated and taken to the brothel.

They were told to take their passports, money and one change of clothing. Everything else was left behind.

"There were mirrors above the bed, pornography on the TV and a big board saying how much the room was an hour," she said.

The couple were put in a double room with three female friends who work at the James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough, a honeymooning couple from the US and another British couple.

"It was terrifying when the storm hit on Friday. The wind made so much noise, everything was being smashed. It was scary in the dark.

"I thought my life was over. I said to myself, 'This is worse than New Orleans' - it was supposed to be the biggest hurricane ever.

"The morning after, they brought us an apple to share and a tiny amount of cornflakes, and that was it for a full day.

"The building next door had come down and looters were selling alcohol. We were told not to go out because we would get mugged so we just walked around the yard, it was like a prison.

"Some people were washing their hair in dirty rainwater. Others were losing their tempers or crying.

"We consider ourselves quite lucky. The roof collapsed at another hotel and people had to sit in water. Someone else said their hotel had split in half," said Miss Kavanagh.

On Monday, they were ushered on to coaches and driven to the airport through floods 5ft deep. One bus tipped over.

"At the airport people were collapsing left right and centre. We were all starving and fantasising about food," said Miss Kavanagh.

The couple have lost their possessions and missed out on a trip they had booked swimming with dolphins for Mr Wheldon's birthday.

* The Foreign Office said that up to 2,000 of the estimated 8,000 British holidaymakers who were in Cancun when the hurricane struck have already been evacuated.