A COUPLE have been left stranded in Egypt after flying out to the country on the day of a suspected terrorist attack.

Cliff Laysell, 21, and girlfriend Izzy Dudley, 20, flew with Easyjet out to Sharm-El-Sheikh on Saturday, the same day a Russian passenger jet from Sharm el Sheikh to St Petersburg crashed in Egypt killing all 224 people on board.

Egyptian and Russian authorities are conducting an investigation into the suspected bombing.

The Foreign Office has suspended all flights to and from the holiday resort while experts assess security at the airport saying“there is a significant possibility that the crash was caused by an explosive device.”

Mr Laysell, of Lee Lotts, Great Wakering, was due to return home on Saturday but has been told he may not be able to fly back until Thursday at the earliest.

He said: “People are frantic and trying to find out what’s happening and if they can stay at the hotel for longer.

“Luckily the hotel has said we can stay in our suite.

“It’s a pain, I don’t know when I will be able to get back, when I spoke to Easyjet they reckoned it would be the 12th but I’ve just had a message from them saying my flight is running on time but all their lines are busy.”

The couple have been celebrating Izzy’s 21st birthday at the Royal Albatros Moderna Hotel and said they would never have travelled if they had known about the attack.

Mr Laysell said: “We left on the day the crash happened and our plane was delayed for three hours and they were adamant they would be able to get us back.

“I’ve spoken to other people saying they thought it was a terrorist attack and their plane came out half empty.

“If I had known I definitely would have stayed home or try to go somewhere else.”

Easyjet, advised passengers to check the status of their flights onlice and said in a statement: “Following further advice from the UK Government , all flights to Sharm El Sheikh are suspended indefinitely. Flights from Sharm-El-Sheikh will continue to operate although they will be subjected to extra security measures.”

AIRLINES planned to begin repatriating British holidaymakers stranded in Sharm el-Sheikh yesterday.

EasyJet intends to operate nine flights from the Egyptian resort to the UK, while Monarch published details of five flights.

The UK Government announced its dramatic decision to suspend air links with Sharm last night after a Russian airliner crashed last weekend.

Prime Minister David Cameron has said it is "more likely than not" that the plane was downed by a terrorist bomb.

Despite the announcements from easyJet and Monarch, the Foreign Office insisted that tomorrow's flights were "all subject to security reviews".

A spokesman said: "We would hope they would go ahead as planned but there are still security issues that need to be resolved.

"We expect it to happen and hope it will happen."

A Monarch spokesman said the airline was "hoping to operate" tomorrow's flights, adding: "We have not said they will 100% operate."

The airline plans to run three "rescue flights" and two scheduled flights from the Red Sea resort today.

EasyJet has told customers it plans to operate five special flights, two scheduled flights and two that were delayed on Wednesday.