The ship arrived in the northern port of Santander to pick up the holidaymakers as well as 500 troops returning from Afghanistan.

Relieved tourists mixed with Army, Navy and RAF personnel as they boarded the amphibious assault ship from 11am for a 40-hour journey to  Portsmouth.

Rescue: Passengers board HMS Albion at the port of Santander in northern Spain this morning. All 310 travellers who had turned up at the port eventually got onboard

At first holidaymakers were furious after being told that there was not enough room onboard to accommodate all of them.

But anger was followed by relief after Commander Geoff Wintle annouced: 'We're going to get everyone on. Nobody is being left behind.'

Speaking shortly before the Albion set sail at 1.20pm, he said: 'It's a warship so the civilians on board won't be used to the austere conditions, but they will get fresh rations, fish and chips for dinner tonight and curry tomorrow. 

'We will provide as many camp beds and sleeping bags as we can, but it's not a  five-star hotel.'

'There's a dry policy on board so there won't be any drinking going on.'

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Lucky few: Tourists at Santander are now on their way back to Britain but others are still waiting at Channel ports in France

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Destination Portsmouth: 500 troops from different RAF and Army regiments and civilian MOD personnel are among those returning on the ship

Meanwhile passengers at British airports had their hopes dashed today after more cancellations were announced as a new ash cloud headed towards the UK.

Flights later today will be limited to eastern Scotland while all London airports remained closed and there will be no flights before 7pm at the earliest in the rest of England, nor in Wales or Northern Ireland.

Ministers are said to be considering relaxing night-flight restrictions around Heathrow, once planes can land there, to clear the backlog of stranded passengers.

Back in Santander, the stranded Britons were simply relieved to be heading for home.

Londoners Jeremy Dickinson, 46, and wife Cecilia, boarded the ship with  children Nicola, four, Thomas, eight and Sofia, six.

They were returning home after a four-week holiday in Argentina.

Mr Dickenson said: 'The British Embassy in Madrid told us we were classed as "vulnerable" people because we have three young children. 'I'm incredibly happy to be going home. It's a massive relief.'

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Disappointment: A Royal Navy officer talks to passengers left stranded in Santander

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Long queues: British tourists patiently wait for news of when they can leave Santander and return home

THE PAXMAN CONNECTION

It could be embarrassing if Newsnight's Jeremy Paxman feels the need to grill our man in Madrid over the problems facing Britons stranded in Spain - because the ambassador there is his younger brother.

Giles Paxman, 58, took up the post last October after serving four years as ambassador in Mexico.

Paxman Jr is no stranger to a crisis. Only weeks after taking up his post in Mexico City in 2005 he was praised for flying down to Cancún to personally oversee the evacuation of British tourists stranded by Hurricane Wilma.

The high-flying Oxford-educated diplomat has also served in several other diplomatic positions in France, Italy, and Belgium.

Retired university lecturer Graham Jones and wife Anne, both 65, boarded the  ship after a marathon journey home from South Africa

Mr Jones said: 'We were supposed to fly home from Johannesburg via Heathrow,  but flew to Madrid on Sunday evening instead when British airports closed.

'Our plan was to get a ferry from San Sebastian, but the receptionist in our  hotel told us about the navy ship and we thought we'd take a chance.

'The rest of our family are still stranded in South Africa.'

London Mayor Boris Johnson's father Stanley, 69, and wife Jenny, were originally told there was no room for them on the boat but they were eventually let on.

Mr Johnson, returning from a trip to the Galapagos islands, said: 'We are absolutely thrilled to be boarding this magnificent vessel. 'We flew into Madrid and made our way up here by bus.

'We have benefited enormously from the Albion picking up troops coming home  from Afghanistan and having enough room to squeeze us in. There is a bit if the  Dunkirk spirit about it all.'

British troops who had been stuck in Cyprus as they returned home from tours of duty in Afghanistan also told of their delight that they would finally make it back  to the UK.

Major Angus Henderson, 40, of 1st Battalion The Royal Welsh, based in Chester,  was desperate to get home to see wife Helena, 40, and children James, nine,  Elsa, six and Monty, four, following a six month tour in Helmand province.

He was also hoping to make it back in time for the funeral of Fusilier Jonathan  Burgess, 20, who was killed by small arms fire in Afghanistan earlier this  month.

He said: 'I'm very keen to get home to see the wife and children and for  Fusilier Burgess's funeral.
'There are seven or eight of us on board and we were due home five or six days  ago but we've been held up in Cyprus by the volcano ash.

'I've lost count of the amount of planes and buses we've been on to get here.

'Now I'm just looking forward to four weeks off, and catching up with the 20 or so injured troops who are in hospital back home.'

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Game of patience: Travellers queue outside the Calais Ferry terminal building to find out when they can cross the Channel. But ferry operators claim they are 'no busier than on a typical summer's day'

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Stranded in Calais: Andy Franklin and his sister Carlie (left) travelled to the French port from Barcelona, while Charles Darby and his children Milly, George and Harry (right) journeyed by road and train from Krakow, Poland

Major Tiffany Cottrell, 38, was one of 118 medics from 254 Medical Regiment,  based in Preston, Lancs, on the ship after seven months tours in Afghanistan.

She said: 'We should have been home last Thursday and we're not going to be back  in time for our medal parade, but the important thing is we're getting home.

'We've been all over Afghanistan. Everywhere British troops have been, we've  been with them.'

The British Embassy in Madrid originally arranged for 250 'vulnerable'  holidaymakers to board the ship.

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There had been angry scenes early this morning after  scores of Brits who turned up hoping to board were told the Albion was full up.

They were told the next the next commercial ferry to the UK with seats available did not leave until May 1. A ferry due to sail tomorrow is fully booked

The Albion, an amphibious assault ship, is expected to arrive in the UK on Thursday morning.

Commander Geoff WintIe, spokesman for HMS Albion, warned: 'It's not your average ferry.

'The holidaymakers are going to be in fairly austere conditions but they will be fed and at least they're going to make it home.'

Only a handful of British consular staff were at Santander port to help British holidaymakers arriving to be told there was no space on HMS Albion.

Ferry chiefs today condemned Gordon Brown's rescue Armada as an empty gesture as the first warship arrived in Spain to picked up passengers stranded by the volcanic ash chaos.

Thousands of stranded airline passengers are also making their way to Channel ports after the Prime Minister deployed another two Navy vessels, aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal and commando helicopter carrier HMS Ocean, to collect stranded British travellers.

Meanwhile the £500 million luxury cruise ship Celebrity Eclipse was  travelling to nearby Bilbao to pick up around 2,000 stranded holidaymakers.

The vessel was due to launch on Thursday but tour operators sent it to pick up  the Brits instead.
It was due to arrive in Bilbao in the early hours of Thursday, returning to  Southampton on Friday.

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Luxury liner: The Celebrity Eclipse arrives at Southampton docks this morning. It leaves for Bilbao tonight to pick up stranded British tourists

Back in the UK: A Flybe plane takes off from Glasgow for Stornoway this morning. Due to a new ash cloud emanating from Iceland overnight, the city's airport closed again this afternoon

But the move has been described as wasteful by ferry operators who claim they can carry five times the number of passengers and have plenty of space for more.

'I don't think there is any shortage of capacity,' William Gibbons, director of the Passenger Shipping Association, told the Daily Telegraph. 'I don't think the navy ships will be of any use at the French Channel ports.

'This all seems to have been done rather hastily. We were not consulted.

'The Channel ports are no busier than on a typical summer's day.'

The unwilling exiles desperate to come home

by NICK McDERMOTT

£3,000 bill: Alex and Sophie Griffiths with Kit, Charlie and India

Among the Britons trapped abroad were some having trouble convincing friends and family that their enforced stay in luxurious destinations was an ordeal.

In Barbados the Griffiths family from Lymington, Hampshire, faced an extra week's stay at the cost of at least £500 a night.

ALEX GRIFFITHS and his wife Sophie, both 35, arrived two weeks ago with their three children, Charlie, seven, India, five, and two-year-old Kit.

Flying with Virgin Atlantic, they spent around £20,000 on a fortnight's stay at the five-star Cobblers Cove hotel on the island's west coast, but now face travelling home in two groups.

Mr Griffiths, a businessman, said: 'This will cost us £3,000. Everybody at this hotel has got an issue that makes being stuck in paradise slightly less appealing and some people are getting angry.

'I'm sure everybody at home thinks we are having a wonderful time, but after two weeks we are ready to come home.'

Risk assessor MARK FIELD flew to the Caribbean to examine a new resort. But he is now trapped on the island of Antigua after being due to return home on Thursday.

The earliest flight available for the 45-year-old is Saturday, and he says that being stuck on a paradise island alone is not much fun.

The father of two said: 'I've got fantastic views across a little cove lined with palm trees. But I have daughters aged nine and six and a wife and I'm missing them terribly.'

JUNE WELLS, 69, has spent the last four nights attempting to catch a few moments' sleep curled up in a seat at one of Heathrow's departure lounges after her Air Canada flight to Ottowa was cancelled.

Despite her age, airline staff did not offer her a blanket or even a refreshment during the first three days. But yesterday both BA and American Airlines handed out sandwiches and hot drinks.

The retired hairdresser, who had been visiting her mother and sister in Hertfordshire, said that after more than two months away from home, she is desperate to return, and has chosen to remain at Heathrow in the event that the ash cloud clears.

A short break in Alicante has turned into a nightmare for LORRAINE SWALLOW, who is desperate to return home with her daughter and teenage niece.

June Wells, 69, slept at the airport while Philippa Wills (right) and daughter Milly hired a bus

The three, from Basingstoke, Hampshire, had travelled to Spain with easyJet early for a few days in the sun, but have now been told the first available return flight is on April 29.

Pensions administrator Mrs Swallow, 47, said: 'The only alternative is to try to reach Santander in the hope of getting on one of the Royal Navy ships.'

PHILIPPA WILLS spent £2,500 of her life savings to hire a minibus for her family to get home from the Algarve.

Short of cash, all eight family members - including a couple in their seventies - spent an uncomfortable night sleeping in the minibus in Calais. Mrs Wills, 40, and her daughter Milly, seven, slept in the boot.

The group had been due to fly back from Faro in Portugal last Thursday but airport staff said that the earliest flight would be in ten days' time.

It took them three days to make the 1,500-mile journey to London. Today they will complete the final 120 miles to their home in Grantham, Lincolnshire.