TWO West Fife girls who were caught up in the Manchester bomb attack have remembered the horrific ordeal one year on.

Ten-year-old Lorraine Ness from Tay Terrace, Dunfermline, and Leigh Tilley, 18, from Burnside Crescent, Rosyth, had been excited for months to see their favourite pop star, Ariana Grande.

But their lives were changed forever when an Islamist terror attack killed 23 people at Manchester Arena on May 22, 2017.

Leigh, a Fife College photography student, told the Press: “There’s not a day goes by when I don’t think about what happened.

“It may get easier in time but I will never forget it.

“Lorraine said she would never go to a concert again but we had tickets for some other gigs already booked.

“The first one we went to was Miranda Sings at Usher Hall in Edinburgh in September. Any time there is a noise though you jump but we have been able to enjoy the concerts too and Lorraine has been the happiest I’ve seen.

“However, I would never be able to go back to the Manchester Arena again.”

Leigh and Lorraine were still in the building when the bomb went off. Panic ensued as they tried to find their parents outside.

Mums Nicola Fitzpatrick and Alyson Smith say although they weren’t at the concert, they’ve still been emotionally affected, like many other parents who couldn’t get to their children.

Lorraine’s mum, Alyson, 39, said: “I wasn’t sure about them going to another concert, but you’ve got to let them live their lives.

“We said to them, right phone us when you get inside, tell us you’re OK, keep hold of each other’s hands, make sure your phone’s charged, ring us as soon as it’s finished.

“There was a worry there and the thing is we can’t tell them it will never happen again because you just never know.

“Lorraine is very young so I’ve had to keep an eye on her. At first, she wouldn’t speak about the incident at all but now if she sees something on the TV she’ll ask so many questions.”

The girls have also been to see Dua Lipa and Rita Ora recently and have noticed that security has been a lot tighter since the event.

Alyson added: “I think we’ve realised how huge the bombing was for the UK and the world and it is strange to think we were caught up in it.”

The two girls and their mums are going to Manchester to mark the one-year anniversary today.

Nicola said: “We’ve been back a couple of times to Manchester already but we think that’s important that we come together with everybody on the day.

“We’ve not spoken to anyone who has gone through the same thing as us and I think it will bring us some closure.”