17:36

Ten Britons and a UK resident who had been stranded by the coronavirus lockdown in the Peruvian city of Cusco for more than a month have left Lima on a Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt after successfully being transferred from the Andean city to the capital.

The group, which included UK citizens who had tested positive for Covid-19, were among more than 30 travellers who boarded the German Boeing-747 to Frankfurt on Sunday afternoon.

Among the UK nationals Chris Ramsay, 29, an engineer from Salisbury, and Ian Lindsay, 68, a retired general practitioner living in Dublin, had both been diagnosed with Covid-19 but Peruvian authorities allowed them to leave as they had completed the quarantine and were no longer considered to be infectious.

“It was a great relief,” said Lindsay’s sister, Patricia Pacheco, who had been travelling with him along with their partners. “I honestly thought the Peruvian authorities would block it again.”

Ten Britons and a UK resident who had been stranded by the coronavirus lockdown in the Peruvian city of Cusco for more than a month have now left Lima Photograph: Alexander Foulkes

The group had been turned away from a military flight sent to transfer them to Lima for the last UK repatriation flight on Wednesday following health screening.

The acting UK ambassador in Peru, Andrew Soper tweeted : “Pleased we were able to help another group of British travellers start their journey home today, including those who had been stranded in Cusco.”



“Thanks to our German partners for organising the flights. We will continue to do everything we can to support those UK nationals who remain in Peru.”

Other travellers who were on the flight to Frankfurt included citizens from Canada, Sweden, Norway, Austria, the Netherlands and Germany.