Diane Murphy, 58, from Northumberland, was shot in the foot when terrorists stormed a busy backpacker bar on Wednesday night. Brandishing automatic rifles, the men also shot her husband, 59-year-old Michael, in the ribs. After two operations to remove his spleen he remains today in intensive care.

Speaking from Bombay’s main hospital, Mrs Murphy, a retired teacher, said : “All of a sudden there was automatic gunfire. The whole place fell apart. It was tremendously loud. My husband and I were hit, as were lots of people.

“Everyone was down on the ground. The gunfire stopped for a few seconds then started again. We had to wait - it seemed like an age - for the police to arrive.

“I stayed with my husband because I could tell he was seriously injured. He was losing consciousness.”

Mrs Murphy, of Hexham, Northumberland, had only been in India on holiday for one day when the terrorists struck the busy Leopold Cafe in the heart of the city.

The couple were supposed to be leaving for Goa this morning before returning home on December 9. They had spent five minutes in the Leopold when terrorists burst in and began to fire indiscriminately.

"It was mayhem,” Mrs Murphy said. “There were so many casualties. It was carnage.

“I had been shot through the foot. My husband was shot in the ribs and was also hit by shrapnel. Some people managed to creep into the kitchen. Everybody kept their head down."

A receptionist at Jaslok Hospital, where Mr Murphy remains, said that at least one other Briton was being treated there and was also in intensive care.

At the nearby Oberoi Trident hotel, Alex Chamberlain, a British website director, was having dinner with a friend when he heard shots fired. Moments later, a waitress stumbled into the dining room with her arms covered in blood. A fresh-faced gunman holding an AK47 rifle appeared behind her, herding the 30 panicked guests towards the emergency staircase.

“He ushered us up three flights of stairs before he told everyone to put their hands on the wall and get out our passports,” Mr Chamberlain told The Times. “He said he wanted British and Americans. Luckily before he got to me two women started crying, which distracted him.”

“I thought this was a nightmare. The whole thing was unreal. There was smoke coming up the stairs, gunshots above us, the sound of grenades going off. I thought if we got to the roof they’d shoot all the white people, so when I got to the 18th floor I decided to escape.

“I beckoned to the guy behind me and went through a side door and crouched under a table. I was convinced the terrorist had seen us. I was waiting for him to open the door and kill us both. The smoke was getting thicker and thicker. I couldn’t breath. After about 15 minutes we agreed we had to go down.”

Mr Chamberlain groped his way through the smoke, down 18 flights of stairs, before he met a group of six other tourists, including a Briton named Michael. They found a cricket bat which they used to smash a window and escape to freedom. “Every noise we made we were worried the terrorists would here. When we got out of the hotel I felt amazing. Not safe but absolutely relieved.

“I called my girlfriend and told her I loved her.”

The 38-year-old has booked a flight to London today.

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