A dad cheated death after contracting a flesh-eating bug in his hotel swimming pool.

Glenn Milner, 40, is suing a travel company over claims that the pool caused the infection which almost killed him in Majorca.

The sales manager needed emergency surgery to gouge out the infection and doctors pumped antibiotics into him in a desperate bid to prevent deadly toxins from entering his blood stream.

They managed to save his life and Glenn is now nursing his wounds back home in Sunderland, after spending four weeks in hospital - but he does not know if he will ever make a full recovery.

He is now suing Dedicated Holidays over claims that he picked up the bug at the pool in the all-inclusive Hotel Merte in Alcudia, Majorca, during his two-week stay on the Spanish isle.

After returning home he was rushed to hospital where doctors battled to save his life after he was diagnosed with the flesh-eating bug necrotising fasciitis.

Glenn forked out £2,200 to internet firm Dedicated Holidays for the holiday at the Hotel Marte complex in resort of Alcudia. But just days after flying out on July 2 he began to feel unwell.

He said: We knew there had been problems health-wise in adjoining hotels on the complex and their pools were closed when stomach-bug-causing bacteria were found, which meant all the guests used ours.

"I began to feel ill myself with a sore throat and I had diarrhoea - but as the holiday wore on I began to feel worse."

Glenn, his wife Gail, 37, and their two children, Tyler, seven, and Erin, two, returned home on July 16 - but Glenn showed no signs of recovery.

He said: "I began to feel really ill and I went into the shower one day and found this huge split on my foot. I went to the doctor and he immediately sent me to hospital."

Doctors at Sunderland Royal treated Glenn on August 16 and sent him home with antibiotics, and a nurse made visits every few hours to dress his wounds. But his condition deteriorated rapidly and he was rushed back to hospital just 36 hours later.

He said: "Soon the whole of my leg was inflamed and it swelled up like a football. It was frightening.

It was then they told me I had a flesh-eating bug. The said each hour was critical. The bug was effectively eating me alive and they said if they didn't stop the infection spreading I could die."

Glenn was taken to theatre where surgeons were forced to gouge out a deep hole in his leg.

He was then pumped with powerful antibiotics in a bid to prevent deadly toxins being released into his bloodstream.

Doctors managed to stop the bug and Glenn was released from hospital on September 16 after receiving skin grafts on his damaged leg.

He has now launched a legal battle against Dedicated Holidays. Recovering at home in Mayfield Road, South Hylton, he said: "This bug almost claimed my life. Any later and I would have almost certainly lost my leg, if not my life.

"My leg is still in bandages. I was a fit bloke before this. I went to the gym, played golf and coached football to youngsters - now I don't even know if I will be able to do any of those things again.

"The holiday firm knew there were problems out there and they never told us and still sent us there. I don't want this to happen to anyone else.

Solicitor Andrew Morton, of Manchester based Pannone and Partners, has taken up Glenn's compensation fight.

He said: "Glenn's case is horrific. He has booked a holiday at a hotel complex that unbeknown to him has a history of hygiene standards. Despite this, many tour operators continued to send their clients there without disclosing problems." No one at Sussex-based Dedicated Holidays was available for comment.