A COUPLE caught up in a military lockdown as the coronavirus arrived in Peru say it’s like ‘being in a disaster movie’.

Rowena Halstead and Andrew Wootten fear they could be trapped for weeks after the borders were closed.

Andrew said: “It was unbelievably scary the night of the lockdown. There were coach-loads of military personnel being deployed, it was an amazingly quick escalation.

“It was like being in the middle of a disaster movie.”

The couple flew to Cusco for their three-week holiday on March 9 when there were no cases of coronavirus.

But five days later they were told they had to leave within 24 hours.

Andrew told the Adver: “We flew to Lima to try and get back home but we were unable to get a flight out by the deadline.

“We went through an extremely anxious period where we were just trying to contact Airbnbs. When we found one we jumped in the taxi to get there before curfew. But on the way there it was very stressful.”

Soldiers stopped the car three times while they were en route, asking the couple where they were headed and why.

Luckily the pair from Cricklade, who were among 400 Britons stuck in the country, managed to get to their accommodation.

The Peruvian lockdown meant people could only go out to buy food otherwise they would be stopped.

If they left the Airbnb they had to take carrier bags to make it clear they were going shopping or they would be stopped and told to get back inside. There was an 8pm to 5am curfew and all shops were closed apart from pharmacies and food stores.

Peru has so far had almost 500 cases and nine deaths.

They were hoping to be on a rescue flight today but there is no guarantee.

Andrew said: “If there were scheduled flights we would happily leave but the airport is closed.

“The government agreed to repatriation flights but the UK is waiting for their slots, if we can’t get a flight then we will have to come to terms with that.”

On Tuesday the UK government was criticised for a lack of communication over rescue flights.

But on Saturday Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said he had got permission for a flight.

They aren’t the only local people who have been stuck overseas because of the worldwide pandemic.

Shannon Bateson and Lucas Braithwaite from Eldene have been in Lanzarote for almost two weeks longer than they expected.

Originally planning to fly home on March 14, well before Spain went into lockdown, the couple’s EasyJet flight home was cancelled just before they left the hotel.

After having four other flights cancelled since then, they have pinned their hopes on a British Airways flight going ahead today.

EasyJet offered the couple refunds for their cancelled flights after the Adver approached them for comment.

But there is a dispute over who should pay for the emergency accommodation.