A CALIFORNIA-BOUND pensioner who ended up thousands of miles away in Costa Rica by mistake has returned home safe and well.

Trudy Rosenfield (70), from Whitefield, hit the national headlines after a travel blunder meant she was sent to the wrong San Jose.

And such interest was sparked by Trudy's nightmare journey that she was also featured in the Monterey Herald newspaper in California.

As reported exclusively in the Bury Times, grandmother Trudy booked a flight with Travelcare in Bury to go and see her relatives in San Jose, California.

But a mix up with the booking, which the Rosenfield family are seeking legal advice about, meant Trudy was sent way off course to San Jose in Costa Rica.

Family members in Bury and California were alerted to the mistake when Trudy failed to arrive at her planned destination on time.

Although Continental Airlines came to the rescue and provided Trudy with an overnight stay in Costa Rica and connecting flights to California via Houston, Texas, her traumatic trip was not over as she was delayed due to bad weather and forced to stay yet another night in Texas.

Recovering from her ordeal at home Trudy said: "To be honest I spent more time at the airport. I was six and a half hours at Houston and my overnight stay was only four or five hours so it was hardly worth going to bed!"

She said it was probably a worse experience for her family, both at home and in California, and explained: "If it is happening to you at least you are aware of what's happening but my daughter Hilary was worried as she did not know where I was. My cousin in California was also worried as he had planned things for us to do. In the end I lost four days of my holiday. It took me a couple of days to recuperate as I was just exhausted."

Despite her ordeal, Trudy has no plans to give up travelling.

She said: "It hasn't put me off travelling abroad, although I don't know if I will as I get older. But next time I will scrutinise the tickets."