Fourteen of the 19 British tourists who went missing after the devastating earthquake in southwest China are “safe and well” after they were evacuated by army helicopter from the quake zone today.

The remaining five are still stuck in the Wolong area of Sichuan province, but are expected to be reunited with the rest of their group today.

The British Ambassador to China, William Ehrman, who arrived in the provincial capital, Chengdu, yesterday to oversee the search for the missing Britons, told The Times: "Fourteen of the 19 were airlifted out this morning so that's a relief.

"But there are still five left behind. There were simply no more seats on the helicopter."

He said it was hoped the remaining five would be evacuated later today.

After their rescue, Mr Ehrman accompanied the group to the four-star Minshan Hotel in Chengdu. "They're all safe and well, and so are the five left behind.

"They were out in the open when the earthquake struck. There were boulders raining down the mountains. Fortunately none of them were hit.

"They spent the next three days sleeping in their bus. But they said that the local people were amazingly generous to them and shared their food with them."

A member of staff at the Minshan Hotel said: “They have all arrived safe and unharmed. They have gone to their rooms to wash and to rest.”

The daughter of two of the tourists, retired British couple David and Diane Atkins, from Portchester, Hampshire, said she had spoken very briefly on the phone to her mother today.

Lisa Staples, 39, from Portsmouth, said: “I spoke to mum, she was in the helicopter and she was just told to say ’I’m safe’. She said she would contact us when they get to their destination.

“My dad is fine too. I’m just so relieved that they are OK - it’s so amazing. We have been trying to keep busy since Monday. My mum told me they had been trapped in the panda sanctuary so a three-hour trip has turned into a three days.”

Mr Atkins, 64, and his 63-year-old wife have travelled the world since they retired.

The group, on a 15-day trip organised by the Travel Collection Company, had been travelling by coach from Chengdu to the Wolong giant panda nature reserve when the earthquake struck on Monday. They were around 35 kilometres from the epicentre.

They remained out of contact and unaccounted for until yesterday afternoon when the Chinese state news agency reported that they were safe and staying in the panda reserve.

According to the China National Tourism Association, 893 foreign tourists and 2,601 domestic tourists were stranded in the quake region as of yesterday evening.

More than 3,000 tourists have already been evacuated and authorities expect to evacuate more than 2,500 more today.

Although the group rescued today was the last British tour group to be accounted for, Mr Ehrman said he feared that there were still individual British travellers stuck in the region.

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