THE family of a grandmother who died after failing to receive medical attention at a Caribbean airport are in talks with solicitors.

Olga Stewart, 69, died after suffering a heart attack while being taken to hospital by taxi after falling ill at Grantley Adams International Airport in Barbados.

Last week News Shopper reported how the family were calling for an investigation into their mother's death. She was the third tourist to die in the past year after falling ill at the airport.

Now her 44-year-old daughter Sharon Stewart, of Felixstowe Road, Abbey Wood, is in talks with solicitors in Barbados to understand the process of getting answers from the authorities.

She said: "I have written to the Barbados High Commission asking them to tell me exactly what medical facilities are in place at the airport and what the procedures are for people who need emergency treatment.

"It's disgraceful my mother had to get a taxi to hospital.

"If an ambulance had been on hand, she could have got treatment straight away.

"We will keep fighting until we get answers. We do not want anyone else to go through this.

"With the Cricket World Cup starting in Barbados in March, there will be lots of British tourists using the airport."

More than 400 people attended Mrs Stewart's funeral at Eltham Park Methodist Church, Westmount Road on Friday.

The retired nurse, of Bethel Road, Welling, was buried at Hillview Cemetery, Wickham Street, Welling.

Mrs Stewart, known to friends as Gloria, died on December 19 - the day she was to return home after a two-week Caribbean cruise.

When the diabetes and asthma sufferer experienced breathing difficulties at the airport, her friend Gladys Peart, 67, and daughter Barbara, 41, frantically searched the airport for help.

The nurse station was empty and a holiday rep advised them to get a taxi to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, an hour away in the capital city of Bridgetown.

But halfway into the journey, the grandmother-of-two died.

Her daughter Sharon is also due to talk with Bromley Coroner's Court about the possibilities of holding an inquest.

The Barbados High Commission declined to comment.