Two policewomen from Oxfordshire were among the British holidaymakers caught up in a terrorist attack in Spain.

WPc Elizabeth Watson, who is a beat officer for Witney, and WPc Penelope Hopkins, based at Abingdon, were on holiday on Spain's Costa Dorada when the car bomb, planted by Basque separatist group, ETA, exploded. WPc Hopkins threw herself over her colleague as the bomb went off.

The blast came minutes after 750 guests, 300 of them British, were evacuated from the Hotel Cala Font, in the east coast resort of Salou, 60 miles south west of Barcelona.

Insp Malcolm Haddock, of Thames Valley Police, confirmed the two British women were serving police officers and that they were on holiday. WPc Hopkins has been with the force for eight years, and WPc Watson for 12 years.

The Renault 25, which exploded at 8.30am on Saturday, had been stolen from the northern city of San Sebastian. Police evacuated the hotel following a telephone warning from the terrorists.

Two hours after the explosion, guests were allowed back to collect belongings before being taken to nearby hotels, or deciding to go home. The blast is the latest in a series of ETA attacks this year.