Coleford vicar Alan Wearmouth went away for a holiday in the sun but was caught up in the devastating floods that hit southern Spain.

The churchman and wife Lesley saw the torrential downpours turn a dry river bed in their holiday village into a vast lake.

Fast moving water swept away roads, bridges and cars in its path.

A bridge and road about 100 metres away from their accommodation was destroyed but luckily the couple's apartment block was on higher ground and they escaped unhurt.

There was no running water for three days and they could not swim because of the debris in the water.

But they say none of the holidaymakers complained because they were acutely aware that at least 10 people died in the floods and hundreds were forced to flee their homes.

The couple went out for the day unaware torrential rain was turning parched land into fast flowing rivers running down from the mountains towards the sea.

At first they could not get back to their apartment because the water on the road was too deep, but it subsided in a matter of hours.

"The empty river bed had turned into white water the width of several football pitches," said Rev Wearmouth.

"The devastation in the area afterwards was unbelievable."

"We met one British couple in the supermarket who only had the clothes they were stood up in, 20 Euros and a credit card. The water in their ground floor apartment was two foot over the woman's head."

He said at one point they stood on a bridge with crowds of people mesmerised by the moving water.

"In hindsight it wasn't the cleverest thing to do but we could not believe how fast it was moving," he said.

The couple went on to enjoy their rest of their trip, including a visit to the Alhambra in Granada, but their thoughts are with the Spanish who are still cleaning up two weeks later.