A Shrewsbury family who were staying in an apartment just yards from an explosion which killed two people and injured many others today spoke of their decision to defy the bombers.

Clare and Darren Courtney, both 37, their sons Connor, 18, Joe, 11, and eight-year-old Louis had been staying in apartments opposite the police station which was targeted by the car bombers.

But the family, from Alexandra Avenue, Meole Brace, were on the beach in Palma Nova when the bomb went off.

Mrs Courtney, a healthcare assistant at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, said the incident on Thursday had not ruined their fortnight in the sun.

“We were on the beach at the time luckily, but one of Connor’s friends was asleep in the apartment when it happened and he said it was like an earthquake and all the doors shook,” she said.

“The beach we were on was just two minutes’ walk from the scene of the blast and we just heard this great big explosion and then saw all this black smoke.

“We were sunbathing then heard this massive explosion and we all though ‘gosh what’s that?’.

“Then the reality of it hit us and there was lots of people rushing about and panicking.

“The Spanish people on the beach instantly packed everything up and just disappeared.”

She added: “After it happened everyone back at the apartments was saying they were going home early but we stayed as it was nearly the end of our holiday anyway.

‘We were all devastated for the two young policemen who died and their families. It was absolutely awful.”

The blast has been blamed on Basque separatists Eta, who have subjected Spain to a prolonged bombing campaign over many years.

By Tom Johannsen