TWO West Fife girls were caught up in the horror of Monday night’s bomb blast in Manchester.

Nine year-old Lorraine Ness, from Tay Terrace, Dunfermline, and Leigh Tilley, 18, from Burnside Crescent, Rosyth, had been given tickets for Christmas to see their favourite pop star, Ariana Grande in Manchester, but their treat turned to terror.

Leigh, a Fife College Art and Design student, told the Press: “Our mums met at work and we’ve become a little family now. Lorraine is like a little sister to me and we both love Ariana Grande. We all travelled down together and our mums dropped us off at the arena. We said we would just phone once the concert finished.

“About 10 seconds after she left the stage there was a big bang. I told Lorraine to drop to the floor but then everyone started to run so we followed.

“We finally got to the exit and there was just thousands of people trying to get out. Lorraine went purple, she was crying and shaking. I just wanted to get out of there.”

As the concert finished earlier than expected, the mums were still travelling to the venue when they received a distressed phone call from Lorraine.

Leigh’s mum, Nicola Fitzpatrick, 44, said: “Lorraine was screaming hysterically down the phone, I thought she’d lost Leigh. We didn’t know what was going on but we said we were 10 minutes away but then we got stuck as the place went into lockdown.”

Lorriane’s mum, Alyson, 38, added: “We didn’t realise the severity of what had happened but I just felt completely useless because I couldn’t get my daughter. They’re so young and they’d never been to Manchester before.

“Around us it just looked like something out of a movie. There was helicopters, police, ambulances, everybody was running around crying.

“A policeman approached the car and said we needed to turn around. Gayle my sister, who was also with us, just decided to get out the car and run. Me and Nicola then went and dumped the car and then just ran until we found our daughters.

“We haven’t really slept since, I think it’s all just sinking in but we’re the lucky ones.”

Leigh added: “The experience may have put me off going to a concert for a while but not forever. These things happen all over the world now and you have just to get on with your life.”

But Lorraine’s mum, Alyson, said: “She told me that she’s never going to a concert again. She has been very quiet which is unlike her. I don’t think she’s taken in what happened.”