A Bradford grandmother has told how a trip to visit her overseas lover quickly became the "holiday from hell".

Veronica Garcia said she was duped by two thieves after landing in Tunisia and had virtually all of her belongings stolen - including a supply of vital medicine.

Mrs Garcia, 51, who had flown to Hammamet to see her 28-year-old boyfriend, said she was left four days without the drug - prescribed to treat an under-active thyroid gland - and feared she would die.

Mrs Garcia said she had met her boyfriend, Mohammed Tarkhani, on an earlier holiday to the country and had promised to return to see him.

"I was determined to go out there and live with Mohammed and had gone across to get things organised."

She said: "I am a qualified aromatherapist and wanted to set up my own business out there."

Mrs Garcia, of Dalcross Grove, West Bowling, said she had had to sell personal items such as her three-piece suite, stereo system and television to fund the trip.

She said: "I had arranged to meet Mohammed at 12.30am outside at the Hotel Lillas, but he had thought I meant lunch time rather than midnight."

On finding he was not there, Mrs Garcia, who has separated from her husband, decided to go to another, cheaper hotel and contact Mohammed from there.

"Two men pulled up outside the hotel and asked what was the matter. Naively, I explained my situation and trusted them when they said they knew Mohammed and offered me a lift."

Mrs Garcia added: "I soon realised that they were not driving to the hotel and thought 'Oh my God I am going to be kidnapped'".

But the brave mother-of-two said she "spoke firmly" to the men who turned the car around and took her to a destination - the Hotel Citronnaires.

"I went in to try to book a room. I had stayed there before and they agreed I could pay later," said Mrs Garcia.

"When I went back out to the street, the car had gone with all my bags of stuff in them. Luckily I had my passport in my handbag but virtually everything else was gone."

The hotel staff agreed to lend her money for a taxi to Mohammed's home where he raised the alarm with police and searched the town with friends.

"I had no money and Mohammed had recently lost his job so he had none either," said Mrs Garcia.

The couple were given accommodation from one of Mohammed's friends and were also lent money for a few items of clothing and others essentials.

But without the drug she recalls: "I was becoming more and more lethargic and I felt as though I was going to slip into a coma. I really thought I could die."

After unsuccessfully trying various doctors in the area, the couple eventually travelled to the British Embassy in Tunis where Mrs Garcia was given a prescription.

But she added: "I am not going to let this come between us. He is planning to come and visit me soon and we will be together eventually."

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "People should never get into cars with strangers and even when using taxis, they should always try and use a properly licensed vehicle."