A HOLIDAYMAKER who was near the scene of the Egyptian terrorist bombings has told of his terror after what sounded "like a firework" went off near his hotel.

Leigh Shaw, 41, was staying in the Sharming Inn Hotel in Sharm al-Sheikh, which runs parallel to the road where the Ghazala Gardens hotel lies.

Mr Shaw, from Booker, High Wycombe, had gone to the resort for diving and sightseeing, but his stay was interrupted by the three bombings, which he said felt like a small earthquake in the night.

He said: "I was asleep in my hotel room and got woken by the sound of a loud bang and thought it was a firework going off outside my room.

"My first thought was who is letting off fireworks a this time of night?

"The patio doors were shaking and I thought it was a little earthquake."

Mr Shaw, of Squirrel Lane, was unsure which bang he actually heard since his hotel was only a short walking distance from the Old Market area, which was also hit by a car bomb in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Mr Shaw said he had visited the market just days before it was bombed, and17 Egyptians were killed at the scene in a street cafe.

He said: "The whole area is a mess. There are car wreckages everywhere. Some people have gone back there since but there is not much left."

Mr Shaw said he was told that two Britons had died in the bombings, although only one has been confirmed so far.

The Ghazala Gardens hotel was hit by a planted car bomb, and a third bomb, set off in a car park near the hotel, had been placed inside a suitcase.

Mr Shaw said security had already been tight at hotels before the bombings and he was surprised that terrorists managed to carry them out.

He said the incident had scared tourists into staying inside their hotels, for fear of further attacks.

Mr Shaw, an advertising representative at the Free Press, returned home to Gatwick on Tuesday night, and was taken into a police incident room along with other passengers where they were quizzed about the bombings, and whether they required any medical attention or counselling as a result.

Ten British tourists remain missing after the bombing, and hospital officials say it could claim around 88 lives.