A kind-hearted mum is offering up a week's stay in Turkey for free after she was unable to move the holiday to attend her father's funeral.

Bernice Asante was due to travel to the beach resort of Kusadasi for the October half-term with her husband Simon and their four children through Club La Costa - a timeshare club which members pay into in return for points to be exchanged for accommodation.

But when the 39-year-old, from Darland, Gillingham, discovered her dad's service was to be held in Ghana on October 29 - the day after she was due to return home - the holiday firm said it was too late for her to change the dates of the stay.

Faced with losing the 700 points invested in the apartment, she said she wanted another family to benefit from the stay instead, and has offered it for free on Facebook.

Bernice said: "The holiday runs until October 28, and my dad's funeral is in Ghana on October 29 so I would have to immediately travel there.

"I do wish they had postponed the holiday. I was upset that when you have a bereavement they won't consider it."

Bernice's dad, Francis Kofi Kushiator, was 95 when he died after spending his whole life in Ghana. Bernice is the 15th of his 17 children.

She did not take out insurance on the holiday, so her only options were to cancel the trip and lose all of her payment, or to pass on her booking to somebody else.

Bernice, a self-employed catering manager, said it was tricky to work out the value of the accommodation due to the nature of the scheme, but it is a four-figure sum.

Since becoming a member of Club La Costa in 2018, she has paid around £17,000 to the company and taken her family-of-six on one holiday in 2019.

She had been unable to go away since due to the pandemic.

When asked why she is offering the holiday for free rather than charging someone to take her family's place, she said: "The plane tickets are just so expensive, because it's in Turkey, and I don't want people to have to spend money for the accommodation on top of that.

"I've had two people show interest in the holiday so far but they then said the plane tickets cost too much. So I don't mind giving them our accommodation booking for free. If someone comes forward who can pay for the flights, I'll be happy.

"I do a lot of charity work supporting people back in Ghana, so I don't think this is anything big. I just want people to use the booking rather than it going to waste."

The lucky taker will not have to be a member of Club La Costa to take the holiday - all Bernice has to do is call the company and give them the contact details of the person taking her place.

The holiday is booked over half-term from October 21 to 28 in Turkey, at Club La Costa's Kusadasi Golf & Spa, in a two-bedroom apartment fit for a family or two couples. The nearest airports are Bodrum and Izmir.

Bernice has asked that anyone interested in taking her place contact her via her Facebook page, or by calling 07450 071349.