TWO residents from the Cotswolds who are stranded in Peru alongside more than 200 Britons due to the coronavirus are asking for help from the UK Government so that they can return home.

Sophie Marriott, who is from Cirencester and Harriet Deo, from Lechlade, are two of at least 250 UK citizens stranded in the South American country with the borders and airports closed because of Covid-19.

Yesterday foreign minister Dominic Raab said it would not be realistic to expect the Government to repatriate all of the British nationals who are travelling abroad due to the high numbers.

Many of those who are stranded in the country have got together to collect details of all who are stuck in Peru in a database.

The data shows that some who are currently stuck in the country suffer from very serious health conditions that make them vulnerable to the virus.

These conditions include serious heart problems, lung cancer and crohn's disease.

Sophie said they are struggling to get support from the Government or the foreign office, and that so far the only advice is for them to keep in touch with the airlines.

She said: "Harriet and I are in Arequipa, although in separate hostels, and we are not sure exactly how many other British people are in this city.

"There are WhatsApp groups which we are all using to coordinate with one another, mostly collating this list which logs our locations, because we are not sure that if there is a repatriation flight whether it would take into account that nobody can travel to Lima at the moment.

"What it is profoundly disappointing is the Government's response that it is simply too expensive to help us.

"As well as the complete lack of communication, all we are being told to do is follow the embassy on twitter and talk to our airlines, even though most us don't currently have flights booked."

Other countries are currently organising flights to return their citizens.

In Germany, foreign minister Heiko Maas has allocated €50 million to enable 'thousands' of Germans stranded abroad to return to Germany.

One of the British nationals who is also stuck in Peru is Briony Blackwell, who has lung cancer.

She said: “Due to the cancer I had one lung removed and am living with one.

"Being stuck at high altitude is making breathing very difficult for me and I constantly feel like I’m fighting to breathe.

"I was never planning on being at high altitude for long but with the lockdown in place I have no choice.”

There are currently 150 UK citizens based in Cusco, which is over 3,300 meters above sea level.

Some of the individuals, who already have serious health problems, have mentioned breathing difficulties.

Danielle Cook who is also stranded there, said: “I learnt my dad had died at the weekend.

"My family can't start any funeral arrangements until we know when I will be back home.

"I was due to be travelling three more weeks and flying out of Colombia but my partner was due to fly back to the UK from Lima.

"The embassy has come back to me and asked for some details via email but I haven't been called."