Heather and Ted Shephard planned to leave the country via Edirne, in the north-west of Turkey, in their car and head to England through Bulgaria.

But they feared they would have to remain in Turkey when customs officers stopped them from leaving after they raised a problem on their passports.

The couple had previously driven from the UK to Altinkum with a two-wheeled trailer full of their belongings.

When they decided to set off last week, they took their trailer with them but close to the border, one of the wheels on the trailer fell off. Despite leaving it in a safe place to go and find a garage to get a replacement wheel, on their return, they found the trailer had been stolen.

They carried on, but on arriving at the border in Edirne, customs insisted they could only leave the country with a trailer – not necessarily the original one. Despite attempts to persuade them otherwise, the customs insisted the couple had to have a trailer – mirroring the details on their passport.

It left the couple driving round for several hours trying to find a garage in Edirne which had a trailer to sell.

Mrs Shephard told Voices: “We eventually found this guy who took Ted in his old banger to see a friend who had one. We were forced to hand over £170 as we would have paid anything just to get out of Turkey and see our family.”

They went back to Customs who waved them through even though the trailer had no brake lights or official number plate. The couple eventually dumped the trailer in a layby in Bulgaria before continuing on their journey without any further disruptions.

Back home in Thetford, Norfolk, Mrs Shephard told Voices: “We couldn`t believe we were being prevented from leaving Turkey because of a trailer. When we got through, we were the most relieved people on the planet.

“We contacted Voices as we wanted to highlight the situation that what you come in to Turkey with by car must be honoured when you leave the country. It was not the same trailer – but it was a trailer nevertheless. Little did we think that such a small thing would cause us so many worries and problems.”

She said: “We begged and pleaded with Customs, and even offered to pay a fine. But they just said “no”. We had visions of staying in Edirne for a couple of days trying to find someone who was willing to sell us an empty two-wheeled trailer.”

She added:  “It's lovely to be back to see our kids and friends again. We were just so relieved to get out of Turkey.” The couple plan to fly back in the New Year to renew their new lives in Altinkum.