TWO Basildon sisters have made it home after being stranded abroad for nearly a month.

Sisters Emily Huff, 32 and Emma Mann, 49, managed to secure an emergency rescue flight from Poland just hours before it took off yesterday morning.

The duo flew from Stansted to Poznan, Poland on March 9 on a pre-planned holiday, having checked the situation beforehand to ensure it was safe to travel.

They were due to fly back on March 15 but that flight was cancelled.

A second flight, on Monday morning, was also cancelled before a flight was arranged through the British Embassy, which landed yesterday morning.

Emily said: “At 7.30am on Monday morning we were supposed to be flying home. At 4am I checked the status to see it had been cancelled.

“Messaged the airline who said flights are now suspended until April 11.

“I rang the British Embassy, amazed I got through, and they said we have to keep checking social media to see when flights start operating again and that if we need money for accommodation/food then we need to find somebody in England to loan it to us.”

She added: “We got the call at around 10pm Monday night to say we could be put on an emergency flight leaving at 7.30am.

“We stayed up pretty much all night and got to the airport for 4.30am.

“When we boarded the plane they gave us face masks, a chocolate wafer and a bottle of water. We are so grateful for everyone’s support, help and kind words. Thank you.”

Millions of UK citizens have been stranded abroad since the coronavirus pandemic began.

A Southend resident, Brian McAlpine, 52, is stranded in Nepal after climbing to Everest Base Camp. He is attempting to arrange flights from Kathmandu.