A HOLIDAY in the sun ended in a nightmare for two East Lancashire women. Both were hit in the legs by shrapnel from the Basque terrorist bomb blast at a Spanish airport.

Marie Carradice, of Bright Street, Colne, was badly injured as the blast ripped through Reus Airport near Barcelona.

Doctors are believed to have operated on the wound to her leg and she is due to be discharged from hospital shortly.

And Mrs Christine Solessi, of Linden Street, Burnley, received hospital treatment and returned home with her leg heavily bandaged.

A Foreign Office spokesman said Miss Carradice, 34, had been kept in hospital for several days while doctors treated her.

"We understand she's one of four people who should be released today or tomorrow," he said. "Exactly when she will be discharged is a matter for the Spanish hospital authorities of course. She was kept in hospital for a couple of nights."

The spokesman said he had no details of her injuries but added: "The fact she's being discharged would indicate, hopefully, that her injuries are not too serious." Her sister Jill, of Blucher Street, Colne, said: "I don't know too much about what's happened. All I know is that she's due home early hours tomorrow morning and she's on crutches. She has a hole in her leg.

"She was just coming home from two weeks holiday in Spain when the bomb went off."

Miss Carradice works at upholstery manufacturers Furnico in Colne. Several members of her family live in the town.

Her late father, Keith, who was one of Pendle's best known sportsmen, died abroad in tragic circumstances last year.

Mr Carradice, a long distance lorry driver, suffered a heart attack and collapsed at a roadside cafe in France in September.

The local sporting hero played almost 900 games at centre-half for Colne Dynamoes and was instrumental in making it one of the most successful amateur football clubs in the country.

A party of seven people from Colne was also in the airport when the bomb went off. Some suffered minor injuries and shock and have now returned home badly shaken by their ordeal. They have not been named.

Mrs Solessi said she did not want to speak about what happened.

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