A British woman and one of her twin daughters drowned when they were swept away in a flooded ravine in Spain.

Lauren Cullen, 14, and her mother Lorraine, 47, had left their car and were trying to cross the swollen river on foot.

The accident was witnessed by Lauren’s twin sister Samantha and another woman who survived by swimming to the banks further downstream, where they raised the alarm.

Mrs Cullen was returning to her remote Spanish home in L’Olleria, near Benidorm, with her daughters and a family friend, who has not been named, on Thursday night when they encountered the flooding in a nearby area called La Palmera.

The river had flooded after 20cm of rain fell during a storm which caused widespread chaos in the Valencia region. At one point, 6cm of rainwater fell in an hour. Ports have been closed, roads shut and buildings flooded.

Mrs Cullen could not drive across the ravine as the Clariano river had flooded its banks. All four women got out of the car to cross the ravine but were swept away by the force of the water.

After a desperate nighttime search, rescue workers recovered the bodies of Mrs Cullen and her daughter yesterday morning about a mile away from where they were last seen alive.

John Cullen, 49, Lorraine’s husband, was out of the country when the accident happened and learnt of the death of his wife and daughter when he flew back to Spain from a trip to Britain. A family friend met him at Ali-cante airport to break the news.

The family had lived in Spain for four years but were previously based in Brighton.

It has been reported that the couple have two older children in their 20s.

Samantha and Lauren were believed to be former pupils of Patcham Junior School while the brothers went to Patcham High School.

In Brighton, Karen Newland, 46, the couple’s next-door neighbour, said that the twins were inseparable.

“They were really close friends of ours, they were a fantastic family,” she said.

“You would never see the twins apart. They’ve been through school together. Lorraine was just so happy-go-lucky she was never miserable, even in bad times.

“They were just a really lovely close-knit family and it’s a tragic, tragic accident. I can’t believe it, it’s not sunk in – it’s just so raw.”

In tears, Mrs Newland’s daughter Stacy, 19, said: “I’ve been over there and where it happened is only two minutes up the road from their home. It’s not dangerous it’s just in the mountains.

“Lorraine would help anyone and you could not hope to meet a nicer person. She was really motherly towards everyone and always put them before herself, always.”

Julià Engo, the Mayor of L’Olleria, said that the two survivors suffered light injuries and were being treated in hospital by psychologists for shock last night.

Mrs Engo said that the Cullens had been driving over a cement bridge that is regularly used by local people to cross the ravine. She said that the force of the water from the flooded river appeared to be the cause of the accident.

A spokesman for L’Olleria town hall said: “Everyone in the area is very shocked at what happened.”

The town has become increasingly popular in recent years as expatriates seek an alternative to the built-up areas along the Mediterranean and head inland to more peaceful areas.

Torrential rain over the past few days has left rivers in eastern Spain running dangerously high. The ports of Valencia, Gandia and Sagunto have been closed.

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