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The family of a Chester student who vanished from a Disney cruise ship - who are suing the entertainment giant for £45,000 - have criticised the company for dismissing their legal complaint.

The parents of Rebecca Coriam, 24, of Guilden Sutton began legal proceedings last month ahead of the third anniversary of her disappearance from the cruise liner on the coast of Mexico.

Ms Coriam, who had been working on the ship for Disney at the time of the tragedy in 2011, has never been found, prompting her family to accuse the company of a cover-up.

Her parents Mike and Ann Coriam have filed papers against Disney claiming the entertainment giant failed in its duty of care.

But in a statement this week, Disney rebuffed the family’s concerns as “being without merit” and vowed to take the fight to court in the United States.

A spokeswoman for the company, based in Florida, said: “This incident has been investigated by the authorities. The claims are without merit, as we will demonstrate in court.”

The reaction comes two weeks after Ann and Mike Coriam instructed lawyers in the USA to begin legal proceedings - but was not directly communicated to the family.

Mr Coriam said it was “to be expected” from a company that has been “absent” since his daughter's disappearance on March 22, 2011.

“We will see them in court. We’re not going to be stopped from finding the truth about our daughter.

“We have had very little direct contact from Disney, at all. It’s shocking. We had a handful of letter in the weeks after she went missing, and have had almost nothing since.

Ms Coriam’s dad added that this week’s comment was the latest in three years of snubs that invites questions about Disney’s motives.

“We’re still waiting for the incident report from them 18 months after it started,” he said.

“I just can’t get my head around that. It makes you question their motives. All we want is answers.”

Rebecca, who was a youth worker on the ship, was last seen on 22 March 22, 2011 at 5.45am when CCTV footage showed her making a phone call to a friend from the staff quarters.

The alarm was raised four hours later when she failed to turn up for the start of her shift.

Her family claim Disney Cruise Lines acted negligently in waiting more than four hours to alert the US Coastguard, more than five hours to contact the Mexican navy and nearly seven hours to call the Bahamas police.