A COUPLE from Basingstoke have described their fear and anger after being within earshot of the Tunisia terror attack.

Max Antonowicz and his fiancee Evelina Bialko, who live in Skyline Plaza, were on the beach outside their hotel in Sousse, Tunisia, last Friday when the massacre took place.

At least 18 British people were killed when Seifeddine Rezgui opened fire on tourists, first on the beach outside the Imperial Marhaba and Bellevue hotels, and then in a hotel lobby.

He had hidden his gun under a beach umbrella, and also used explosives in the attack in which a total of 38 people died.

The Basingstoke couple were staying at the El Ksar hotel, a short drive from the attack site.

That morning, the couple had gone to the beach where the attack took place, to try and take part in a diving trip, but were told there was no room.

They said they returned to their hotel after a trip to a market, and went to sunbathe on the beach outside, at around 11am.

Shortly before the attack, Max said he saw a man dressed in black, slowly riding a jetski 50 metres from the beach, which he thought was odd.

Later, at around midday, he heard loud banging noises, but mistook it for building work.

He said: "The first thing I thought was that it was the sound of workmen stripping down a building. I ignored it completely because there was a lot of building work going on in the area.

"I later went back to the hotel to get my snorkel mask and our phones started going crazy with messages from back home asking if we were ok."

Max then went to the hotel reception, asking staff what they knew and why they had not informed guests of the attack, before taking it upon himself to tell people on the beach what was happening.

He said: "There were loads of people on the beach unaware of what was happening. It did not go through my mind to go and hide. I was really angry that nothing was being done to take these people off the beach.

"Afterwards, we did not want to go to the beach, and we stayed in the hotel reception and our room. Evelina was terrified and she did not want to leave me."

The couple contacted their operator Thomas Cook and managed to get a flight from Tunisia to the UK on Saturday morning, a day before they were meant to return.

Max, a sales executive at a Toyota garage in Bracknell, said: "I feel angry. The people that have died went there to enjoy their holidays. There were families and there were kids.

"Who could do something like this?"