A Telford couple who were rescued from a cruise ship which hit an iceberg in the Antarctic were due home today.

Brian and Gillian Lee are understood to have caught a flight from Buenos Aires in Argentina yesterday.

The couple, from, Oakengates, were among nearly 90 tourists woken in the middle of the night by a siren signalling the stricken M/S Explorer was sinking on Friday.

Their daughter, Di Willett, said her parents were expected to fly back to Birmingham today.

It is not known how many Britons on the ship are expected to return today – five days after their ordeal began.

Gillian, 63, and Brian, 68, had described how they feared for their lives as the ship began to rock.

The rescue operation began early on Friday morning after the ship hit a submerged iceberg.

As the vessel began to list dangerously, passengers were told to put on warm clothes and lifejackets and abandon ship. They waited in lifeboats in the freezing cold for the NordNorge, a passing liner, to answer their emergency call.

After boarding the NordNorge they were given warm clothes and food before being carried to a nearby island.

The ship’s 86 passengers were then flown from remote King George island in the South Shetlands to Chile over the weekend.