Thomas Cook flight bound for Birmingham diverted after pensioner hit on the head by a shoe

A Thomas Cook flight bound for Birmingham had to be diverted to Lisbon after a pensioner was hit on the head by a shoe.

Flight TCX 4125 had to make an emergency landing in the Portuguese capital after Hilda Holland was struck by a shoe on 10 January.

The 79-year-old, from Rowley Regis in the West Midlands, was hurt when the flat shoe smashed into her head after a passenger sitting behind her opened an overhead locker above her seat.

Holland and husband John eventually left the hospital at 5am on January 11 but were forced to travel back home on a flight via Brussels.

The incident shook the couple and they have since said they will never fly again because of it.

"We won't fly any more," Holland told the Birmingham Mail. "That was a wake up call for us.

"I haven't really got over it yet, the pain was on top of my head and I couldn't speak."

A Thomas Cook spokesman said its operations control centre contacted the Hollands at the hospital and offered assistance within a few hours of their arrival.

"Mr Holland was grateful for the call and advised that he would make arrangements through his insurers and we ensured he had direct contact number for Thomas Cook," the spokesman said.