Former model Lisa Fullwood thought she had achieved her lifelong dream of a hideaway in the sun when she paid more than £50,000 for a holiday home in Spain.

Developers promised her the site in Murcia would include a swimming pool, five-star hotel and other state-of-the-art facilities.

Miss Fullwood, from Shrewsbury, put down 60,000 euros in July 2005 to secure the home using money left to her by her late mother Mona.

But she today revealed the dream had turned into a “nightmare” after the development was never completed.

The property was part of a planned luxury development at the Corvera Golf and Country Club.

Miss Fullwood, who has modelled all over the world and appeared in top brand TV campaigns, said: “The apartments looked amazing, the plans were incredible. On the brochure, the phrase was “Live the Dream”.

“Part of the attraction was that everything would be right on your doorstep.

“Living in Spain was something me and mum had always discussed. I used to model in Spain when I was young and I love the Spanish people and culture.”

But problems soon began for Miss Fullwood as work to complete her apartment and the development as a whole stalled.

“They said in 2005 it would be finished in 2007, then 2008, then 2009. My apartment was finished in 2009, but there is almost nothing on the development. It has been a nightmare.”

Miss Fullwood, who attended Shrewsbury Sixth Form College and the London College of Fashion in the early 1980s, is now one of nine Britons who are taking developer Corvera to court with the support of Irwin Mitchell Abogados – the Spanish arm of UK law firm Irwin Mitchell.

A trial will take place in Murcia on July 17 next year. Miss Fullwood will be a witness and she said the group represented only a small proportion of the people affected by the case, with more than 130 people in the UK involved.

“We are hoping for some form of justice, however the Spanish system works. We want to bring this to people’s attention because it is not right.”