New year celebrations fell flat for Jean Howell...despite a party on the Thames, a flight to Australia and a gold-dust ticket for the London Eye.

Lucky Mrs Howell, 58, of Avondale Road, Benfleet, was set to mark the start of the new century with a privileged trip on the London Eye big wheel.

Just 250 revellers were to enjoy a piece of the capital's history as Prime Minister Tony Blair opened the ride on New Year's Eve.

But just a day before the party of a lifetime, Mrs Howell, her husband Frank, 62, and their ten family members discovered the bash had to be cancelled.

Last-minute safety checks revealed one of the ride's 32 glass pods would have flipped passengers upside down as they travelled round on the 450ft wheel.

Instead, British Airways put on a millennium eve bash on a Thames boat and a return flight anywhere in the world.

In addition, Mrs Howell and her family will still be among the first people to have a go on the wheel when it is up and running.

However, the generous compensation package was simply not enough to make up for the disappointment.

Mrs Howell said: "Our millennium fell flat. We will still be the first on the wheel but not for a couple of weeks yet. That will be nice but not the same. It is no compensation really.

"I retired on New Year's Eve and this was going to mark the start of a new life for me. I was going to go on the wheel a pensions manager for a cigarette company and coming off retired. "It all feels a bit flat now to be honest.

"It is not British Airways' fault. They did all they could to make it up to us. We got ourselves so excited and it has all fallen flat."

The family are set to use their free flight to visit Mr Howell's brother who has recently emigrated to Australia.

Mrs Howell said: "We are still getting lots of lovely opportunities but I would have swapped it all for a trip on the wheel to welcome the new millennium."

The family won their seat on the wheel after entering a competition. They said they deserved the tickets because it would be "a wonderful way of starting a new life".

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.