EXCLUSIVE: WATCH as a Midland couple tell how they fled for their lives in Tunisia terror attack

Matt Preece and fiance Daisy Earl, both aged 23, heard explosions as the shootings began and believe the gunman had walked past them shortly beforehand.

The Kidderminster couple ran for their lives before managing to escape in a tuk-tuk to their hotel, Kanta Resort hotel, where hundreds of British tourists were in a panic as the situation unfolded.

Mr Preece, a painter and decorator, said: "I heard what sounded like an explosion but thought nothing of it, some people said they thought it was lawnmowers or fireworks.

"Then the beach started to empty very quickly. We went to the tuk-tuk rides which are on the beach. A woman there said there had been shootings, but we guessed that it was in the capital Tunis and not nearby."

Miss Earl, a worker at retail store TK Maxx, said: "We were sat in this open tuk-tuk with no windows and we didn't know if he (the gunman) had been caught or killed or if we would be next. We just knew there had been shootings on the beach."

The couple, who engaged last month in Paris, then arrived back to their hotel to scenes of pandemonium.

Mr Preece said: "When we got back to the hotel everyone was crying and screaming in the lobby.

"Everyone was just panicking, not knowing what to do. That's when we heard people had been killed but we didn't know if they were British.

"The staff were the same as us, they were by the TV trying to find out what was happening as much as were. They were upset.

"A lot of people stayed in the lobby but I decided to go out to the pool. It was claustrophobic and I thought if anything happened we were sitting ducks."

Amid the chaos, the couple said rumour was rife, and reports the gunman could have walked within inches of the couple chilled them to their bones.

Mr Preece said: "We were told nothing until about 7pm when a Thomas Cook rep came and said he would keep us posted about a flight home.

"At 2.30am he rang us and told us we had a flight."

Miss Earl said: "I didn't sleep on the night. The lights were on and I made sure the doors were chained. We had to take lifts to the second floor and when the doors opened we didn't know what was going to be there."

The couple landed back in the UK on Saturday night and said they were glad to be home, but spared a thought for those who had not been so lucky.

Mr Preece said: "I'm just relieved. There were moments when I thought I could be killed. We woke up this morning and realised it could have been us.

"It's sad, especially if you see your family killed and you survived. I can't imagine it.

"We will never go to Tunisia again, or Egypt or Turkey, that sort of way. You can guarantee the weather but your life is worth more than a bit of sunshine."