DEDICATED family man Stephen Riddiough has told how he abandoned his step- father and friends in a last- ditch attempt to save their lives.

The only survivor of the Spanish mountain tragedy said his stepfather, Colin, saved his life with valuable survival lessons when he was a youngster.

But the 30-year-old, from Redcar, east Cleveland, told the Mail on Sunday he knew when he returned to the scene by helicopter that the three men had died.

The bodies of Colin, 46, Paul Dick, 56, and John Plews, 32, were recovered from Mulhacen mountain, in Spain's Sierra Nevada region, on Sunday last week.

"Leaving them there was the hardest decision of my life," said Mr Riddiough.

Instead of taking payment for his story, he has asked for donations to be made to the Butterwick Hospice, in Stockton, and Kilton Thorpe School for the disabled, in east Cleveland.

Jackie Leighton, of the Butterwick, said last night: "I have not been made aware of any donations from these tragic circumstances.

"If that is the case, we are obviously extremely grateful to Mr Riddiough for thinking of us at a time like this.

"It is a welcome gesture to come out of such a tragedy and our thoughts are with everyone effected."

Mr Riddiough said: "To see dad there with our friends made me want to crawl in the snow hole with them and let hypothermia take its course.

"But then I thought of my mother, sister and girlfriend at home and the families of John and Paul. I knew I had to get back for them."

Seven hours after setting out, Mr Riddiough came across the village of Capileira.

When he finally found someone to communicate with, a search party was launched.

However, due to continued bad weather, it was not until early last Monday when he was able to go up in a rescue helicopter.

By then he feared the worst. "I knew we had found them, But I also knew they were dead.

"It was dad who saved my life that day. Everything he had taught me I remembered. Keep going, don't give up, use your instincts."

Mr Riddiough used the interview to set the record straight over claims the group had not been properly prepared.

"It's awful for anyone to suggest dad didn't know what he was doing - no one was fitter, keener or more well-prepared than him," he said