A PHOTOGRAPHER has told how she escaped terrorist gunmen by mere seconds as horror swept the streets of Paris, Henry Holloway writes.

Lisa Barnard, a lecturer at The University of South Wales in Caerleon and award-winning photographer, was in the French capital on Friday night attending the Paris Photo conference.

She had been for supper with a friend and started heading back to her hotel - receiving a text from a friend saying there had been an explosion at the Stade de France.

“As I was walking back to the hotel I went the wrong way and headed into the 10th District and straight into a group of students who were running towards me”, she said.

Unaware of the extent of the massacres taking place across the city, the University of South Wales lecturer joined the fleeing students and took cover in a nearby Chinese restaurant.

Moments after the doors closed a gunman believed to be in a car came by and opened fire in the street.

She said: “Immediately after we got inside, there was shooting, people were screaming, I do consider myself quite lucky. He was obviously driving down the road shooting at people in the street.

“It happened quite fast, I knew something bad was happening but I did not know how bad.”

Across the city the horrors of the attacks were unfolding with restaurants and bars packed with Friday night revellers as the terrorists struck.

Some people in the Chinese restaurant took cover in the basement and Ms Barnard, who has previously worked in conflict zones, said she planned to escape through the kitchens if the gunmen returned.

“It was chaos”, Ms Barnard said. “Everyone was worried and quite rightly so because of the disparate nature of the attacks, how many and how prolific they were.

"The restaurant we walked into had no idea what was happening – some people still just eating their meals.”

She added: “I was not as worried as some people were. I was pragmatic. I left the restaurant and made sure to walk to back streets to get back to my hotel.

“I walked past lots of bars and restaurants and they were just amazing, the owners were shielding people, telling them not to leave, looking after them, it was quite extraordinary scenes.”

When she made it back to her hotel room it was only then that she realised the extent of the attack, saying it did not “hit home” until the following day.

She said: “The day after it was citywide mourning and people were being hyper vigilant. Everyone was on edge, sirens every three minutes, and soldiers all over the streets. It was a very surreal experience, we just wanted to leave.”

Ms Barnard returned to her home in Lewes yesterday afternoon.