Is there danger in sunshine life?

But is Spain more dangerous than Britain? Pauline Hawkins speaks to a couple from Lower Darwen who have made it their home.

Milton and Jill Armfield sold up and moved to mainland Spain in October last year.

Their first home was just outside Torrevieja, a booming area about 25 miles south of Alicante where Joseph and Sheila McCaughran, also from East Lancashire, enjoyed visiting their holiday home on the Costa Blanca.

But brave Mr McCaughran, 69, of Walden Road, Wilpshire, paid with his life after attempting to stop raiders escaping with a camcorder containing images of his beloved baby grandson Jack.

The pensioner was dragged along the road by the burglars' getaway car and died in hospital nine days later from a blood clot on the brain.

The Armfields only lived at their first home for six months before selling up and buying a property at Torre de la Horadada, about 15 kilometres away.

The town is coastal and also flatter than Torrevieja, which is better for Jill, 55, who suffers from rheumatoid arthritis and benefits from the warm, dry weather.

Milton, 56, who worked at the Whitbread Brewery at Samlesbury before his retirement, said the Torrevieja area had been heavily promoted by the company with whom they travelled for an inspection visit and they had been told the crime rate was very low.

But he felt the huge increase in housing coupled with a lack of streetlights might have led to the area becoming a prime crime target.

"There are not a lot of streetlights but there are a lot of houses being built there. Because it is so quiet and dark nobody can see who might be lurking about," he said.

The area is inhabited by Britons and Germans as well as Spanish nationals, but thieves did not discriminate and Milton and Jill heard of several instances of break-ins in the area.

They have had no problems themselves but 10 days before they moved to Torre de la Horadada the house next door, owned by a Spanish family, was stripped of its fittings.

Despite the raids the couple are enjoying their new life and currently basking in temperatures of 35C.

The town is close to the beach with a promenade and for health reasons they would not consider returning to damp and often dismal Lancashire.

"I don't miss it, and neither does Jill," Milton said.

Neither would the tragedy involving Mr McCaughran make the couple think about returning to England.

"It is no different here to anywhere else," Milton said.

Twelve million Britons visit Spain every year and 700,000 ex-pats have made mainland Spain or its islands their permanent home.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office says in 1999/2000 a total of 26 Britons were robbed there.

British journalist Tom Cain, who works on the Costa Blanca News, said: "It is a very rare event for someone to be attacked violently here, especially during a robbery.

"The death of Mr McCaughran, although tragic, was not due to a direct attack on his person.

"Torrevieja is a boom area. It resembles a vast building site with new estates being opened up every month.

"The area has become a magnet for every kind of petty thief and conman that can find his way there.

"The problem for the police is that the town is growing out of all proportion to their staffing levels and the ease with which these criminals are able to move around makes it almost impossible to stop them.

"Another factor is the nature of people on holiday. Many of them take no precautions at all with their belongings, despite warnings in hotels and from the reps out here.

"Others are just unlucky. As far as warnings to tourists from the police go, there are none.

"Spain and the Costa Blanca in particular is a very safe place to live, but you do have to take precautions just as you would back in the UK."

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has issued guidelines to visitors to other countries called Know Before You Go.

Visit the FCO website for more information.

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Mr McCaughran's funeral service was taking place at Pleasington Crematorium.