YOU really can’t go wrong with a curry. Warming, filling and tasty, they’re the perfect meal for this time of year.

But you don’t have to spend all your money on a takeaway to have a delicious curry at home – just ask Dan Toombs, AKA the Curry Guy.

Toombs, 60, is obsessed with bringing curries to the masses, and is releasing his 11th cookbook, The Curry Guy Slow Cooker.

After moving from California in 1993, Toombs fell in love with the British curry scene, later begging his way into restaurants to learn the secrets of the perfect dish. Now based near York, Toombs knows a thing or two about taking your curry to the next level…

Nail the base

Photo of butter chicken from Curry Guy Slow Cooker by Dan Toombs

The main thing Toombs learned from his time in curry house kitchens? It’s all about the base.

“There’s a base sauce” for pretty much every curry that’s made, he says. “It’s quite a bland sauce, similar to chicken stock or vegetable stock.

“When it’s not seasoned, you have this bland stock that you add to almost every curry, and the magic happens when it hits the pan, because you have different spices to make the different curries.”

So if you get this base sauce down – and it’s “quite simple to make”, according to Toombs – you’re golden. “It’s the secret behind how to make real curry house-style foods. It’s not something they do very much in India, it’s really a British thing.”

This base sauce is basically “an onion stock – a lot of places will put other vegetables in it, like cabbage and green pepper, but nothing that has bite to it”, and from there you can create pretty much any curry you like.

Go off-piste

Lamb Nihari from Curry Guy Slow Cooker

While recipes are a useful guide, Toombs warns against getting too hung up on them.

“A lot of people concentrate too much on the recipe rather than what they personally enjoy,” he explains. So if you like quite a saucy curry, add more stock when you’re cooking, or if you enjoy spice, then pump up the chillies.

He recommends “trying things as you go, especially if you’re trying to teach yourself how to cook” so you can “begin to know what the different spices taste like” and will know how to adjust your dish accordingly.

It’s all about trial and error: “You’ll get the idea behind it, and you can make up your own recipes once you know how to use that base sauce.”

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Time to try this tucked-away restaurant in York – but was it worth the wait?

UK’s top curry houses revealed – one is in York while North Yorkshire has two

Dig out your slow cooker

If you have a slow cooker, it could be the secret to more flavourful curries with a whole lot less effort.

“What you do get from a slow cooker is a more intense flavour, because you’re not trying to rush things,” Toombs says. “You’re letting all those ingredients melt together.”

Plus, it’s a lot easier than slaving over a hot stove. “The thing I like about slow cookers is you really can set them and forget them, so you can go to work and know there’s not going to be any kind of issues. You’re not going to burn anything to the bottom of the pan or anything like that.”

Toombs recommends trying his recipe for lamb nihari in the slow cooker. “It’s a northern Indian/Pakistani dish which is traditionally cooked over a low heat and simmered for about three or four hours, so it’s perfect for a slow cooker,” he explains.

Dan Toombs, aka Curry Guy

“You can put it in a slow cooker on high for about four hours, or if you go to work and put the meat in there – which is normally lamb shanks – just let it become really tender for eight hours [on the low setting].”

There’s another benefit to trying your next curry in the slow cooker, with Toombs saying it transforms some of the cheaper cuts of meats into the best dishes, saving you a bit of money along the way.

“A lot of times the cheap cuts have the most flavour – the reason why they’re cheap is because they take so long to cook. But if you’re putting it in the slow cooker, it doesn’t make any difference. You let it sit there and simmer until it’s cooked through and really tender, and you get a better flavoured meat and it’s a lot less expensive.”

Prep your own spice blends and pastes

Toombs’ top tip is to make your own spice blends and pastes at home. While it might require a bit of labour to start with, once you’ve got them sorted you’ll be able to make the most delicious curries – saving you time and money.

Curry Guy Slow Cooker by Dan Toombs (Quadrille) PA Photo.

Toombs suggests that ground spices that have been sitting on the supermarket shelf for a while might not be “their best”. So if you buy fresh, whole spices, “You can toast them, you can make them taste better than just adding them in their ground form… It’s something you can just throw into a curry and you know it’s going to taste good.”

The same goes for spice pastes – and Toombs has recipes for Rogan Josh and tikka masala pastes and more in his new book. Once you’ve whipped them up, he recommends storing them in a preserve jar with an airtight lid, topping them up with oil so the flavour stays fresh.

“Spices, once they’re ground, start to lose their flavour. But by making these pastes and covering them with oil, you’re giving them a longer life,” he says. “I use them all the time.”

Try something new

From a jalfrezi to a Madras, there are the classic curries we all know and love. But if you really want to take things up a notch, Toombs recommends trying something new – like his recipe for a Sri Lankan black chicken curry.

“Unlike in India, where they don’t really use curry powders that much – they’ll use different spices, like garam masala. But in Sri Lanka, they use curry powders quite a lot,” he says.

“Curry powder is a lot of warming spices that can also have chillies in it… And the black chicken curry is one I learned when I was over in Sri Lanka, it’s one of my favourites. You roast the curry powder until it’s almost black – it’s like chocolatey brown, and that gives it a really intense flavour. I haven’t seen it in any other curries from other parts of the world, it’s something very Sri Lankan, and if you’re looking for something unique, that’s what you have to try.”

Curry Guy Slow Cooker by Dan Toombs is published by Quadrille, priced £16.99. Photography by Kris Kirkham. Available now.

The incident happened on the Cambridgeshire-Suffolk border

Four men have been arrested after an incident in which a Jeep was driven the wrong way on the A14. The incident happened near Bury St Edmunds on the Cambridgeshire-Suffolk border,

Suffolk Police were first called by a member of the public just before 12.30pm on Friday (February 13) to reports of suspected hare coursing on private land in Westhorpe, Stowmarket. Officers attended the area, at which point a further call from a member of the public alerted them that the suspects had left in a blue Jeep.

Enquiries confirmed the vehicle was travelling via back roads. It was later spotted joining the westbound A14 at J47 near Elmswell.

Officers attended the area in both marked and unmarked vehicles, and with assistance from National Police Air Service (NPAS). Rolling road blocks were placed in both directions of the A14 between junctions 43 and 42 from approximately 1.35pm.

The driver of the Jeep then attempted to evade officers by travelling the wrong way on the A14 for a short distance, before the occupants of the vehicle decamped and ran towards woodland near the Howard Estate in Bury St Edmunds. Officers pursued the suspects on foot before apprehending them.

Four men, aged in their 20s, have now been arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and trespassing, and taken to Bury St Edmunds Police Investigation Centre for questioning. Two of the men have also been arrested on suspicion of failing to stop when directed to, and for dangerous driving.

The A14 reopened by 2:10pm. The Jeep and five dogs have been seized by police.

Two British men are among three skiers who died after an avalanche struck the Val d’Isere ski resort in the French Alps, local officials have said.

The snowslide hit the village in southeastern France at around 11.30am (10.30am UK time) on Friday.

The third victim was a French national who was skiing alone high up on the mountain slope ‌when he was swept away, according to Cedric Bonnevie, a spokesperson for the resort’s slope management department.

The Britons were in a group of five people and a professional instructor who were lower down ⁠the mountain and ​did not see the ​approaching danger, he added.

They were off-piste skiing, reports said, something that was “strongly discouraged” according to a message on the resort’s website, citing a “very high avalanche risk”.

Other reports said six skiers in total were swept away, but this has not been confirmed by officials.

France’s national weather forecaster, Meteo-France, issued a red avalanche warning for the Savoie region, which borders Italy, in southeast France on Thursday.

“Very heavy snowfall” in the Alps has “triggered exceptional avalanche conditions”, the agency said on its website, with up to 60 to 100cm of fresh snow coming down.

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The new snow has landed on an “already unstable snowpack” and on Friday, the avalanche risk level was four (out of five) “across the vast majority” of the Alpine ranges.

“Avalanches are therefore easily triggered by skiers or hikers and can move very large volumes of snow. Extreme caution is advised for all mountain activities outside of marked trails,” Meteo-France said.

An inquiry into the disaster was under way, Mr Bonnevie said, adding it was not clear what caused the avalanche.

The deaths were confirmed by the Foreign Office, whose spokesperson said it was “aware of an accident in which two British men have died in France”.

“We are in contact with the local authorities and stand ready to offer consular assistance,” they added.

Anyone on the flower rota at England’s parish churches will now be reconsidering the way they do their arrangements, after Church of England leaders voted to use more seasonal and local flowers.

A motion to use sustainable flowers brought before the General Synod of the Church of England by the Bishop of Dudley, Martin Gorrick, was passed on February 12. The term “sustainable flowers” means using those that have travelled less distance, use less packaging and have been grown using without chemicals, high energy inputs or an excessive amount of water.

The General Synod, which considered the motion, is made up of all bishops plus representatives from every diocese, and includes the newly appointed Archbishop of Canterbury, Dame Sarah Mullally – who personally thanked those who brought the motion. The bishop said: “It is deeply theological, to honour the God who made the earth.”

Parish leaders will now need to be updated about what needs to change in planning the flowers for the front of the church.

For most churches this will mean using seasonal foliage and local flowers in weekly worship, rather than buying those grown thousands of miles away or by using intense heating to grow blooms out of season.

These sustainable flowers may come from churchyards, gardens, donation buckets or offerings from local garden clubs or allotment holders.

The motion encourages all places of worship to source what is local and seasonal to them, wherever possible. It aims to phase out the use of floral foam, which has traditionally been used for flower arranging. And it links the theology of stewardship of creation and the planet to how to treat nature, promoting seasonal and compostable flowers and foliage.

It is likely to mean trying different techniques such as going back to some traditional methods used before floral foam was invented in the 1950s.

I was there to hear the bishop say that the decision to phase out floral foam is about moving away from single-use plastics and manufactured alternatives, towards simpler methods of display, such as vases, sticks and other reusable and compostable materials.

What the church does matters, it uses millions of flowers every year in its displays. Its impact goes far beyond the church doors.

If the around 12,000 Church of England parishes only averaged two bunches a week, that would be over 1.2 million a year and millions of stems. Additionally there are huge numbers used at church events such as weddings and funerals, and brought into churchyards. The church’s decision could also drive more Fairtrade sales where local flowers are not available.

With this potential source of business changing, florists might be encouraged to provide plastic-free options, and consumers might be more aware when choosing their flowers – such as for St Valentine’s Day and beyond.

What else is needed?

Currently, even those who want to buy sustainable flowers will struggle to know what to look for. Details of the place of origin is rarely included on plastic wrapping and any independent verification of flowers meeting particular standards, for example Fairtrade, are rarely available to consumers. Fairtrade flowers do give more information to consumers, including place of origin and farm standards.

The Church of England’s decision shows a need for providing consumers with more information on the ecological standards that flowers have been grown to, impact on soil, biodiversity and on the local economy.

These are issues that the Sustainable Flowers Research Project, an organisation set up by me and David Bek, a professor of sustainability at Coventry University, have been working on for years. We also work with flower suppliers and buyers to create more sustainable policies on farms and in shops.

A current government-funded project with the Flower Growing Collective, a network of regional flower selling hubs, is providing new routes to market for more than 60 growers. It also is creating convenient wholesale access for florists to buy local flowers, without needing to trail around multiple farms.

Farmers who already supply seasonal flowers can be found through organisations such as Flowers from the Farm. Other useful guidance is also available to help people find more environmentally friendly flowers. And a new sustainable church flowers national award scheme will encourage and acknowledge the work being done.

Hopefully church flower arrangers around the country will embrace this new approach, and see it as changing with the times.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and the country’s main opposition leader held hands Friday as they paid tribute to the victims of one of the worst mass shootings in the country’s history at a vigil in a devastated British Columbia town.

Carney and Opposition Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre joined hands as an Indigenous leader sang a prayer outside the town hall in Tumbler Ridge.

Carney and Poilievre also spoke. The prime minister named each of the six people killed at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School and said the mother and brother of the shooter who were killed also “deserve to be mourned.”

Authorities said the 18-year-old alleged shooter, identified as Jesse Van Rootselaar, killed her 39-year-old mother, Jennifer Jacobs, and 11-year-old stepbrother, Emmett Jacobs, in their home on Tuesday before heading to the nearby Tumbler Ridge Secondary School and opening fire, killing five children and an educator before killing herself.

Carney said he sat with people who are “living through something no one should ever have to endure.”

“When you wake up tomorrow, and the world feels impossible, know that millions of Canadians are with you. When the cameras leave and the quiet sets in — know that we will still be here,” Carney said.

A crowd of hundreds attended the vigil. Some held photos of loved ones they lost.

Carney said the community has always been defined by people caring for each other.

“And when the unimaginable happened on Tuesday, you were there again. First responders at the school within two minutes. Teachers shielding their children,” he said.

Poilievre commended Carney for his “tremendous grace.” Canada’s political leaders flew from Ottawa together.

British Columbia Premier David Eby said the students of the school won’t ever have to return to the building if they don’t want to.

“I will promise that not one of you will ever be forced to go back to that school. We will provide a safe place for you to go back to school,” Eby said.

Authorities on Thursday identified those killed at the school as Kylie Smith, Abel Mwansa, Zoey Benoit and Ticaria Lampert, all age 12, as well as 13-year-old Ezekiel Schofield and assistant teacher Shannda Aviugana-Durand, 39.

Maya Gebala, 12, who was wounded in the head and neck, and Paige Hoekstra, 19, who also suffered bullet wounds, remain hospitalized in Vancouver.

Dwayne McDonald, the deputy commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in British Columbia, said earlier Friday that the alleged shooter did not appear to be searching for a specific target at the school.

“This suspect was, for lack of a better term, hunting,” McDonald said. “They were prepared and engaging anybody and everybody they could come in contact with.”

McDonald described a “chaotic” scene at the school when police arrived, with fire alarms sounding and a person yelling out a window that the suspect was upstairs.

“They entered the school, proceeded to go up the stairwell, and were met with gunfire,” he said. “It was a matter of seconds after that there was more gunfire, not as we know now, having reviewed video, directed at any persons. Then the suspect took their life.”

McDonald said from the time the suspect encountered police there were no further injuries to students at the school.

Four guns were seized, two from the family home and two from the school, he said.

The attack was Canada’s deadliest since 2020, when a gunman in Nova Scotia killed 13 people and set fires that left another nine dead.

School shootings are rare in Canada, which has strict gun-control laws. The government has responded to previous mass shootings with gun-control measures, including a recently broadened ban on all guns it considers assault weapons.

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Gillies reported from Toronto.

Wagner Moura and Kleber Mendonca Filho, star and director of political thriller The Secret Agent, have been delayed, slightly, I’m told.

A few minutes turn into quite a few more minutes, which is not usually a promising sign when it comes to interviewing film stars and filmmakers, but it turns out there’s a good reason – an unexpected phone call from the president of Brazil. Not the kind of caller you send to voicemail.

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, known as Lula, wanted to congratulate them on the film’s success: a string of honours starting with major wins at the Cannes Film Festival back in May, which now includes a Critics Choice award, Golden Globe wins for best actor and best non-English language film, plus two BAFTA and four Oscar nominations.

As the first Brazilian ever to be nominated for best actor, Moura has made Academy Awards history.

“I think it’s meaning a lot to Brazilians, especially because we went through a very bad moment in our history where artists and culture were seen in a very negative way,” says Moura. “It’s a huge transformation, you know, and it’s a big change.”

Veteran leftist Da Silva returned as Brazil’s president after beating the far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro in 2022. In November last year, Bolsonaro began a 27-year prison sentence for plotting a coup after his election loss.

The former leader’s three-year tenure was marked by misogynistic and homophobic rhetoric, and a hostility towards culture and the arts; things have changed dramatically under Da Silva.

“We went from living in a country where we were seen, perceived by the power as enemies of the people to a moment where the president himself is calling us to say that, hey, we are proud of you,” says Moura. “The president saying that ‘I see the culture, I see films, I see books, I see this as an important tool to the development of the country’. It’s a reconnection.”

The Secret Agent is set in 1977, during the brutal military dictatorship in Brazil that lasted for more than 20 years, and Moura plays Armando, a professor forced into hiding after clashing with a regime official. While it started as a period thriller, the echoes of recent history are there.

‘It requires courage to stick to your values’

The Portuguese-language film is up there among the most celebrated of Hollywood’s awards season, particularly following Moura’s best actor win at the Globes, over favourite Michael B Jordan for his portrayal of twin brothers in Sinners.

Mendonca Filho says the part of Armando was “tailor-made” for Moura. After years of talk about making something together, “it only worked when I finally sat down to write a script thinking specifically about working with him”.

Moura, who is better known globally for his portrayal of notorious Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar in the hit series Narcos, says the film is about generational trauma and values, and he was able to draw from his own experiences.

“This film is about a man who is sticking with the values he has, during the dictatorship, which are obviously values that are opposite to [his],” he says.

“What Kleber and I went through during the Bolsonaro time in Brazil is a big example of that. It requires a lot of… courage to stick with your values when what’s established around you says the opposite, especially in this polarised world.

“I think that it’s getting harder and harder because the idea of truth is disappearing, you know… facts, they don’t matter anymore.”

There was once a time when the right and the left “would discuss and we would even fight over something, but we were both seeing the same thing”, he continues. “Nowadays, it’s not about facts anymore, it’s about versions, so we are not living in the same mental space, which is a very dangerous thing.”

Red carpet award controversy

But people are connecting with The Secret Agent. Since Cannes, Moura says, “this film has been receiving so much attention, steadily – it hasn’t dropped – which is very rare and kind of amazing, especially for a Brazilian film”.

Which is why a move to hand out the Critics Choice award for best international feature film on the red carpet, rather than during the ceremony itself, proved particularly controversial.

The awards hierarchy is nothing new, with the Oscars criticised in recent years over plans not to televise certain technical (read: not enough star-power) awards to tighten the broadcast time.

But Filho, who was clearly caught by surprise as he was unceremoniously handed his Critics Choice prize, says now – as Donald Trump’s controversial immigration crackdown continues in the US – is a particularly troubling time to make such a decision around international films.

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“I think politically, whoever made that decision doesn’t seem to have a pulse on what is taking place in the world now and in the United States,” he says. “I think once you invite someone to your party, just give him or her all the drink that he or she deserves, you know, don’t say, oh I don’t have the right to drink this like everybody else.”

Moura highlights the many brilliant non-English language films in the awards conversation this year, including Sentimental Value, submitted by Norway, Sirat (Spain) and It was Just An Accident (France).

“In a year where the international films are great… politically, it doesn’t feel right at all.”

Now is an important time for filmmakers, says Filho. “It does feel like the world is sliding back into a moment of conflict. And it’s happening in many different areas and authoritarians are also back in a big way.

“So as much as it feels so bad and we worry to death about what is taking place, it’s also a very fertile moment to develop stories and tell stories, because the irony of present-day use of power is something that is part of our lives.”

The scandal surrounding Peter Mandelson and his association with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has prompted questions about the process that led to Mandelson becoming the UK’s US ambassador.

Candidates are vetted for ambassadorial roles, but the decision to appoint is taken by the government.

The prime minister has indicated that the process needs to change in the wake of fresh claims about Mandelson, who was sacked from the post in September 2025.

Files released in the US contain emails which appear to suggest he forwarded on market-sensitive information to Epstein when he was business secretary under then PM Gordon Brown in 2009.

The Metropolitan Police has launched an investigation into allegations of misconduct in public office. The BBC understands Mandelson’s position is that he has not acted in any way criminally and that he was not motivated by financial gain.

He has previously expressed his regret at continuing his relationship with Epstein after his 2008 conviction and apologised to his victims.

The BBC’s Analysis Editor Ros Atkins has more.

Produced by Katerina Karelli. Graphics by Jacqueline Galvin.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Russian drone strike on the Ukrainian city of Odesa killed one person, officials said Saturday, ahead of fresh talks next week aimed at ending the war.

The drone hit a residential building in the Black Sea port city, leaving an older woman dead, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said Saturday.

On Friday, a Ukrainian missile strike killed two people and wounded five in the Russian border city of Belgorod, according to regional Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov.

Meanwhile, another round of U.S.-brokered talks between envoys from Russia and Ukraine will take place next week in Geneva, days ahead of the fourth anniversary of the all-out Russian invasion of its neighbor, officials in Moscow and Kyiv said on Friday.

The discussions will be held on Tuesday and Wednesday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said in a statement carried by Russian news agencies.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s communications adviser, Dmytro Lytvyn, confirmed the new round of negotiations.

The talks take place against a backdrop of continued fighting along the roughly 1,250-kilometer (750-mile) front line, relentless Russian bombardment of civilian areas of Ukraine and the country’s power grid, and Kyiv’s almost daily long-range drone attacks on war-related assets on Russian soil.

Previous U.S.-led efforts to find consensus on ending the war, most recently two rounds of talks in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, have failed to resolve difficult issues, such as the future of Ukraine’s Donbas industrial heartland that is largely occupied by Russian forces.

Zelenskyy said last week that the United States has given Ukraine and Russia a June deadline to reach a deal. Previous deadlines given by U.S. President Donald Trump have passed largely without consequence.

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Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

MUNICH (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio offered a friendly and reassuring assessment of America’s relations with Europe under President Donald Trump’s administration, saying Saturday that the blunt tone of previous criticisms was intended to spur a renaissance in trans-Atlantic ties.

Rubio addressed the Munich Security Conference a year after Vice President JD Vance stunned the same audience with a harsh critique of European values. On Friday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz opened this year’s gathering by calling for the United States and Europe to “repair and revive trans-Atlantic trust together,” saying that even the U.S. isn’t powerful enough to go it alone in an world whose old order has withered.

Rubio argued that the “euphoria” of the Western victory in the Cold War led to a “dangerous delusion that we had entered ‘the end of history,’ that every nation would now be a liberal democracy, that the ties formed by trade and by commerce alone would now replace nationhood … and that we would now live in a world without borders where everyone became a citizen of the world.”

Taking a much less confrontational approach than Vance last year, he acknowledged that the Trump administration has been pointedly direct in asserting its positions, but made clear that it won’t back off them.

“We made these mistakes together and now together we owe it to our people to face those facts and to move forward to rebuild,” Rubio said.

“Under President Trump, the United States of America will once again take on the task of renewal and restoration,” he said. “This is why we Americans may sometimes come off as a little direct and urgent in our counsel. This is why President Trump demands seriousness and reciprocity from our friends here in Europe.”

“In a time of headlines heralding the end of the trans-Atlantic era, let it be known and clear to all that this is neither our goal nor our wish,” Rubio said. “Because for us Americans, our home may be in the Western hemisphere, but we will always be a child of Europe.”

“We have fought against each other, then reconciled, then fought and reconciled again. And we have bled and died side-by-side on battlefields from Kapyong to Kandahar,” Rubio said. “And I’m here today to make it clear that America is charting the path for a new century of prosperity. and that once again, we want to do it together with you, our cherished allies and our oldest friends.”

Dr Vana Katsomitrou was boarding a flight to Spain on Christmas Eve but was told she wasn’t getting on after a baggage row – the doctor said she was only refunded £13

An NHS doctor has rowed with EasyJet and claimed the budget airline threw her off a flight over her baggage – despite her luggage fitting in the box.

Dr Vana Katsomitrou travelled to London Luton Airport for a four-night holiday in Alicante, Spain, with just hand luggage but her trip turned into chaos before it started. The doctor was due to fly on Christmas Eve and said she was asked to put her bag into the sizer. Vana claimed the worker thought the bag was too big but the flyer alleged it fit “comfortably” inside the box. The doctor said she tapped an employee’s shoulder to show her the bag in the sizer but claimed the staff member “loudly” warned Vana not to touch her.

The doctor claimed the EasyJet employee “shouted” at her and accused the traveller of harassment before saying the doctor could not board the flight to Spain.

Vana said she then apologised and offered to pay the £60 luggage charge but was still banned from getting on her £160 flight to Alicante, the day before Christmas.

EasyJet has since confirmed Vana removed items from her bag to enable it to fit in the measuring box. However they said she was then “disruptive” so not allowed to fly.

Vana, from Wembley Park, London, said: “I had booked a trip for a few days with some of my girlfriends to spend Christmas together in Spain. My friends were already there but I was working so I was going to find them in Spain. It was only for three days so I had a backpack with a few clothes.

“I went to the airport and there was this woman who was quite aggressive with the people boarding and she had an attitude. She was asking people to pay for their luggage because it was too big. She stopped me too and said my backpack was too big and didn’t fit in the box.

“I took out a denim jacket and put it on. The bag fit the box very comfortably. She turned her back on me and I touched her on her arm to show her the bag fits. At that moment she started shouting ‘don’t touch me.’ She told me that I harassed her.

“I begged them because it was Christmas Eve, I wanted to spend Christmas with friends. I said ‘if I did something that offended you, I apologise’, and she said she did not accept my apology. They didn’t let me on the plane.

“There were no more flights and I spent Christmas alone. They ruined my Christmas. She was so angry and annoyed at me. It’s like she was annoyed that she was working Christmas Eve and wanted to ruin everyone else’s time. I wasn’t aggressive at all.”

Vana complained to EasyJet and said they responded saying a member of staff had claimed to have “felt threatened”, so Vana was not allowed to board. They then said they were unable to disclose the outcome “for security reasons” – but told her to “rest assured” they took her feedback seriously. She was also given a £13 refund.

Vana has vowed to never fly with EasyJet again unless it is a matter of “life and death”. She said: “I’m really careful about how I speak to people, I work for the NHS and I’m always careful not to say something that will offend people. After that I complained online asking for compensation and they sent me an email explaining their policy.

“I said I would like to appeal and sent them photo evidence. There is no evidence I threatened a member of their team. Even the airport allocator said they didn’t see or hear me threaten anyone.

“They got back to me and refused. They said I was disruptive. I was in shock. I had paid for an Uber there and back. We had paid for the Airbnb, and I had booked a taxi from the airport. I felt awful and exhausted. I’d never fly with EasyJet again unless it is a matter of life and death.”

An EasyJet spokesperson said: “Our ground crew will check that bags are within the maximum dimensions to ensure they fit where they need to be stowed in the cabin and in fairness to customers who have booked to bring additional luggage. As Ms Katsomitrou behaved disruptively towards our team at the gate, she was refused travel. We do not tolerate abusive or threatening behaviour towards our staff.”