Tunisia attack: Minute's silence 'chance for closure'

Allen Pembroke left his hotel room to help those injured in the Tunisia beach attack

A man who ran to the aid of Tunisia beach attack victims said he hoped to get some closure following the national minute's silence for those who died.

Allen Pembroke, 61, from Chelmsford, Essex, helped a badly wounded woman at the resort in Sousse last Friday.

Cheryl Mellor, 55, was lying injured. Her husband Stephen died trying to shield her from gunfire.

Mr Pembroke said he and his wife were still in shock over the "harrowing" attack, in which 30 Britons died.

A minute's silence will be held across the UK at midday to remember the 38 victims of the attack.

Mr Pembroke was on the beach with his wife when the attack started, and the couple fled to their hotel room.

Cheryl Mellor was badly injured in the shooting, in which her husband Stephen died

Flowers remain on the beach in Sousse where the attack took place last Friday

But he said he had to follow his "gut reaction" and go back outside to help those injured.

"I immediately saw quite a few bodies among the sunbeds. The beach was covered with blood," he said.

He came to the aid of Mrs Mellor, who was lying face down in the sand.

"Her hand was two or three inches from her wrist - she was semi-conscious.

"She'd also been shot in her left leg. I secured it as best I could with the towels. I checked her husband's pulse but he'd gone."

Mr Pembroke said he had seen a second man with a gun approaching the beach on a speedboat but could not be sure if he was "friend or foe".

"I believe the beach could have been more secure. There'd been a terror incident in March and they should have upgraded security in that knowledge," he said.

Although he returned to work earlier this week, Mr Pembroke said he was "probably in shock".

"I'm trying not to think about it. Thankfully while I'm at work I'm absorbed with that.

"But when I lay down at night in the quiet, the slightest noise and I feel alert and awake. But time will heal that."