TWO retired teachers caught up in the Barcelona terrorist attack sought refuge in one of the city's biggest department stores.

Sue and Brian Convey, of Penrith, are in Barcelona visiting her son, his girlfriend and their new six-week-old granddaughter Amaia when the terror attack happened on Las Ramblas - one of the city's biggest streets.

Sue, 65, told the News & Star how a moment after leaving the store they were confronted by an "enormous crowd of frightened people practically stampeding into the store".

She said: "We had gone for a stroll in the late afternoon and headed down to Las Ramblas.

"We went into the large department store at the top of the street called El Corte Ingles, and spent some time in there enjoying the air conditioning - it's slightly hotter here than Cumbria.

"We were leaving the store at about 5pm, literally a few steps out of the store, when we were aware of a huge commotion and saw an enormous crowd of frightened people practically stampeding into the store.

"We turned and ran back into the store just ahead of them to avoid the crush, people were spilling everywhere."

Sue continued: "I saw one young lad collide with a man in a wheelchair.

"Luckily, it is a vast store and people soon dispersed, we moved further into the store and kept away from the windows.

"We didn't know what had happened, but it was obvious it was something awful: there were people crouching down behind counters, some were in tears, one man was given a tissue to wipe his eyes. Small kindnesses from strangers."

While the drama unfolded, Sue's son had been desperately trying to contact his parents.

Sue said: "Our son had been frantically trying to contact us, as he knew we'd headed in that direction.

"He'd tried my husband's phone, could get no answer, but luckily got me. He was so relieved that we were okay, he'd just received a message from a work mate about it all.

"He told us that a van had ploughed through people in Las Ramblas, many were injured. He wanted us to stay where we were, not to go out into the square, just to stay safe.

"People were still streaming in past us, we could hear police sirens and not long after, helicopters."

After the phone conservation with their son, Brian decided the best option was to leave the store by a side door.

"It was just as well we left when we did," Sue continued, "as they were closing the shutters and we later heard that the people had to stay in the store for two hours as a security measure.

"We made our way back to our son's apartment.

"The streets were very quiet, and we realised just how lucky we'd been - I'm so glad we stayed in the store for a bit longer than we'd intended."

Sue and Brian have not been back to Las Ramblas since the attack happened.

She said: "I've no idea what it's like further in the city as we've stayed in the local area.

"We saw that there had been a huge procession down Las Ramblas, a minute's silence and a minute of clapping. Those poor people.

"We've also obviously heard about the other attacks and thwarted attacks.

"At the time, it was all rather surreal, we just knew we had to get away.

"My son and his partner were surprised by how calm we were when we got to their apartment. But then we didn't see the full horror, thankfully."

And the drama continued well into the night.

Sue said: "All through the evening helicopters were making constant flights over the streets, often just hovering above for minutes at a time.

"That was a little unnerving, especially as we knew the van driver had escaped."