That is exactly the problem faced by a Winwick woman who has never been able to take her three children on a foreign holiday after she developed claustrophobia aged 20.

It was when Marie Kelly, now aged 51 of Rectory Lane, was pregnant with her eldest daughter that an overcrowded lift sparked her first panic attack.

Since then the phobia, which she admits is an irrational fear of enclosed spaces, has dominated her life and that of her family.

Ms Kelly said: "I have to know there is an escape route.

"When I fell down a flight of stairs my friend had to put me on a wardrobe door and take me to hospital in the back of his Cortina because I couldn't face the ambulance and when I was in hospital for a different operation my brother and a porter carried me to theatre up the stairs because I couldn't go in the lift."

When Ms Kelly feels trapped she panics, feels suffocated and is reduced to tears.

However, a small breakthrough came when she and her partner Bill Atkinson were invited on a reality TV show to overcome her fear.

She said: "I couldn't even take the ferry across the Mersey but after the boat trip to Calais on the TV show, I felt as if a cruise might be a possibility."

Three weeks ago Ms Kelly and Mr Atkinson had a guided tour of a P&O cruise ship and may be soon booking their first holiday together outside of the UK.

Ms Kelly said: "I've been with Bill for seven and a half years and he is my rock.

"Before he met me Bill always took holidays abroad but his life has had to completely change because on my claustrophobia.

"The ship felt very spacious and at least there are doctors on board who can help me if I have a panic attack."

Reality TV opens up a whole new world to Marie