A GROUP of American exchange students has been left stranded in the region by the volcanic ash cloud sweeping across the country.

The 23 pupils and four teachers from New Jersey had their flight home cancelled on Saturday.

But kind-hearted locals in Lockerbie and Castle Douglas came to the rescue – by putting them up for an extra few days until the travel crisis ends.

They’re just one group of many locally who have been affected by the travel chaos since last Thursday.

One Dumfries travel agency says it has customers stranded as far away as Australia and South Africa.

The pupils and teachers, from Northern Valley Regional High Schools, were due to go home on Saturday after the week-long trip which saw them link up with Lockerbie Academy and Castle Douglas High.

Fourteen of the students are staying in the Lockerbie area and the other nine are in Castle Douglas.

It is hoped their rescheduled flight will be able to leave from Heathrow Airport tonight if the ash cloud coming from a volcano in Iceland dies down.

But the American pupils, aged 14 and 15, haven’t been short of things to do – they’re keeping up with schoolwork by taking classes at both schools.

Lockerbie Academy rector Graham Herbert praised the families who have put the students up.

He said: “They’ve shown that old Dunkirk spirit and have been willing to do whatever it takes for the kids.

“I would like to give them our profound thanks.

“We have been able to give them access to computers and email and they can do some of their school work online.

“They also have an American teacher here who has been using our resources. I don’t think they were too worried about it, in fact, because of their age profile, they see it as a bit of an adventure.”

Castle Douglas High School headmaster, Philip Oswald, said: “None of the American kids is homesick but maybe a few of them are a little bit anxious about the journey itself, but on the whole they are all quite content and delighted because it’s stopping them going back to school back home.”

Airports across Britain have been closed since Thursday causing misery for travellers.

Some flights did take off yesterday although forecasters have warned that another ash cloud is on the way.

Those affected locally are mainly tourists trying to leave Scotland, holidaymakers scheduled to fly out or people stranded abroad.

Gary Jardine, retail manager with Border Travel in Dumfries, said: “We have people in places like Australia, South Africa, Cyprus and Gran Canaria.

“They have come to the end of their trip but the flight home has been cancelled so we are having to extend their stay.

“We have about 20 people who are stranded abroad although that number will go up the longer this goes on.

“There are also a lot of people who have booked to fly out with us and we have one couple who are going on their honeymoon.

“It is just a case of trying to rebook, re-arrange or refund the holidays.”

And he added that the situation was also affecting holiday bookings.

“We are coming up to the late booking time for the summer season but people are waiting to see what happens first,” he said.

Dumfries couple, David and Sandra Cullen of Moss View, were looking forward to a holiday in Greece and arrived at Glasgow Airport at 5am on Thursday for a flight two hours later when they were told to go back home.

Mr Cullen, 59, said: “It’s a bit disappointing because we were really looking forward to a relaxing week away and we’ve never been to Crete before, but I think cancelling the flights was the right thing to do.

“We had both booked time off work to get away, but what happened was out of everyone’s hands and we’ll just have to wait a wee while longer to get a break in the sun.”

Cancelled

Lochmaben student Lucy Bryden found herself stranded at the French/Swiss border after visiting a fellow student who was working over there.

A flight from Geneva was cancelled on Tuesday which saw Lucy having to go on a 22-hour train journey to get home.

The 20-year-old said she was expecting to arrive in Carlisle at 5am this morning.