THE reverberations from the Paris terrorist attack have reached the Forest of Dean with the arrival home of Mitcheldean man Matt Nash, from the French capital.
Mr Nash, 20, was enjoying dinner with his girlfriend Lucy Smith at a restaurant in the historic Grand Boulevards area of the city on Friday evening when the second attack was launched.
“It was only on our way back to the hotel that we heard about it,” he said.
“It was quite a scary experience. There were a lot of people asking questions but we weren’t sure about exactly what was happening or if anywhere was safe to go.
“You could tell by people’s faces that they were afraid and out in the street there were lots of police about and ambulances which made people feel uneasy.
“We were not due to come back until Monday but we decided it was best to cut the holiday short so we came home on Saturday.”
The band Years & Years, whose lead singer Olly Alexander is from Coleford, cancelled their planned concert in Paris on Monday night. The band tweeted: “We’re deeply saddened to hear the news that some members of our French label team have lost their lives in the Paris attacks.”
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