A NORTH-EAST pensioner was among dozens of British tourists who fled from their Spanish hotel as they were overcome by chemical fumes.

Ellen Lamb, 68, from Sunderland, Wearside, said people were gasping for breath at the four-star Yaramar Hotel, at Fuengirola, on the Costa del Sol.

The tourists, mainly pensioners, were left with tears running down their faces and one woman spent 48 hours in hospital. The incident has been blamed on a spillage of chlorine used in treating the hotel's swimming pool.

A number of people were having dinner in the restaurant near to the pool.

Mrs Lamb said: "I couldn't get my breath and my eyes started stinging like mad.

"One woman was gasping, and I thought she was going to have a heart attack.