A North West Euro MP has recalled the life-changing moment he stared a gun-wielding terrorist in the face and saw 12 people shot dead.

Sajjad Karim, the Conservative MEP who lives in Simonstone, in the Ribble Valley, and was brought up in Burnley, said the day he came face to face with the terrorists has changed him forever.

A year ago today Mr Karim was in the Taj Mahal hotel, in Mumbai, India, when 10 gunmen stormed the prestigious building.

The siege lasted nearly three days and left 174 people dead, including nine of the gunmen, with the only survivor currently on trial in India.

“I don’t think you can go through that experience and not change,” said Mr Karim.

“I appreciate everything much more now and have a greater perspective.

“Family events like weddings and birthdays are so precious now, and you realise that things you used to place so much importance on actually aren’t important at all, at the end of day I am still here and my family is still here.”

Mr Karim, who has served as North West MEP since 2004, had just checked into the hotel when the attack happened.

He fled towards a rear exit but then came face to face with a gunman, who shot dead 12 people as he fired towards Mr Karim and people around him.

After that he barricaded himself in a restaurant with other hotel guests.

He said: “I will always remember the face of the terrorist I saw. He can only have been around 19 and he was totally emotionless.

“He had lost touch with humanity and was just expressionless as he fired at people and killed people.

“I will never understand how he could get like that, it is beyond belief.

“The second thing I will always remember is hiding in the restaurant.

"I remember a German man had a laptop with him and we were checking news on there and it mentioned I was in the hotel.

“I just had to find a corner to hide, I didn’t want to tell the other people in there.”

Mr Karim spoke to the Lancashire Telegraph from the Hajj in Saudi Arabia, an annual pilgrimage for Muslims to Mecca.

He said: “It is very poignant being here today a year on from the attack.

"I realise how lucky, how bloody lucky I really am to have survived when so many others didn’t.”

Today hundreds of people gathered around Mumbai, holding vigils, calling for police reform and painting murals to remember those killed in the deadly terror attacks exactly a year ago.

Diplomats from Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Israel, Italy and the US lit candles in memory of people from their countries who died.

Muslim, Christian and Parsi leaders from India lit candles in memory of the Indian dead.