Snooker champ Mark Selby and his family rescued from Rhodes wildfire as he thanks locals who helped get them to safety

SNOOKER ace Mark Selby and his family have been rescued from wildfires on holiday island Rhodes.

At least 20,000 tourists and locals have fled their hotels and homes as blazes wreak havoc across the Greek resort.

Mark Selby with wife Vikki and daughter Sofia Mariatwitter/markjesterselby

AP

Wildfires are sweeping across Greek holiday island Rhodes[/caption]

Four-times world champion Selby, 40, is among thousands of Brits who have been evacuated to safety.

The snooker star took to social media to thank those who helped him escape along with wife Vikki and daughter Sofia Maria, eight.

He tweeted last night: “Wow where do I start!

“Firstly I just want to say a huge thank you to the locals in Rhodes for helping us, we can not thank you enough for your kindness!

“We are now back home safely! Praying for everybody out there to get home safe.”

It comes as up to 10,000 stranded Brits wait for news after wildfires engulfed their hotels in Rhodes.

Many have angrily accused tour operators of dumping them on the island while knowing it was being destroyed by forest fires.

Some have spent more than 48 hours in makeshift evacuation centres hastily set up as the inferno spread along the south coast.

Travel firm Tui carried out five repatriation flights as of Tuesday morning.

But the company has cancelled all flights to Rhodes up to and including July 28, with holidays scrapped for those going to affected hotels before and on Sunday.

Airline easyJet said it was operating its third flight on Tuesday, while a spate of Jet2 flights took place on Monday evening.

Travel firms have increased the number of staff based on the island.

Meanwhile, tourists off a flight to Rhodes after the pilot warned them it was a “terrible idea” to travel there.

The plane was just about to take off from Gatwick when the easyJet captain urged the 37 British holidaymakers on board to think twice about their trip.

He said travelling to the island for a holiday was a “bad idea”, explaining return flights are being managed by the military.

Eight travellers, including a young boy in tears, took heed of his sobering words and disembarked the aircraft, BBC Wales reported.

Firefighters on the island are still battling the flames as thousands of people have been forced to evacuate burning hotels, with tourists scrambling to get home on evacuation flights.

The deputy mayor of Rhodes, Konstantinos Taraslias, said the fires are still burning out of control after seven days of fighting them.

More than 16,000 people have been evacuated by land and 3,000 by sea from 12 villages and several hotels.

PA

Selby – dubbed the ‘Jester from Leicester’ – is a four-times World Snooker Champion[/caption]

Selby’s family proudly saw him receive an MBE at Windsor Castle in Maytwitter/markjesterselby

AP

A satellite image from Planet Labs PBC shows the fires burning on Rhodes[/caption]

AP

Up to 10,000 stranded Brits are waiting for news as the fires rage on[/caption]