THE coroner hearing the inquests into the 30 British victims of the 2015 Tunisia terror attack, at the Royal Courts of Justice, said today that he will rule that they were all "unlawfully killed".

Former plumber John Welch, 74, and his partner Eileen Swannack, 73, were among the 30 Britons killed in the Tunisian beach massacre.

The inquest has heard that Mr Welch, of Pickwick Road, Corsham, was shot in the chest and neck and that great-grandmother Ms Swannack, of Yatton Road, Biddestone, was shot in the chest.

Today Coroner Nicholas Loraine-Smith rejected calls from lawyers for some of the dead people's relatives to rule "neglect" by travel firm TUI or the hotel owners played a role in their killing.

He said the law on neglect did not, in his view, apply to tourists who voluntarily went abroad and that better planning and actions by hotel staff may not have prevented the atrocity in which 38 people were killed by radicalised Islamic extremist Seifeddine Rezgui.

The judge said he would rule on each British victim individually, adding: "My conclusion is that all 30 were unlawfully killed."

The judge said although in general the response of the hotel staff was "disorganised and chaotic" some of them displayed "conspicuous personal courage" in their efforts to protect the guests.

He said this courage was also shown by guests at the hotel too.

Summing up the evidence heard during the inquest, Judge Loraine-Smith referred to the response of police and military, including the officer who "fainted through terror and panic", and the guard who took off his shirt to hide the fact he was an officer.

He said with the exception of two marine guards, no police entered the hotel grounds until the gunman had killed all 38 tourists.

The judge also referred to a unit that stopped off to pick up more weapons instead of going straight to the scene.

"They had everything they required to confront the gunman and could have been at the scene within minutes," he said, adding: "The delay was deliberate and unjustifiable."

Victims' relatives fought back tears as Judge Loraine-Smith ruled on each of the dead in alphabetical order, saying: "At approximately 11.45am on the morning of June 26, 2015, a terrorist who was armed with a high-velocity firearm and improvised explosive devices began shooting at the tourists who were on the beach at the rear of the Riu Imperial Marhaba Hotel in Sousse in the Republic of Tunisia.

"The terrorist moved from the beach into the grounds and inside of the hotel."

Many relatives have watched the six-week inquest at the Royal Courts of Justice, with more following proceedings via videolinks set up in courts in other parts of the UK closer to their homes.

In a statement outside the Royal Courts of Justice after the inquests finished, Kylie Hutchison, of law firm Irwin Mitchell, which represents most of the victims' families, said: "It is now crucial that the whole travel industry learns from what happened in Sousse to reduce the risk of similar catastrophic incidents in the future.

"On behalf of our clients who lost members of their family and those who suffered injuries in this terrible incident, we will now be preparing to commence civil proceedings against TUI."

Ms Hutchison said: "During the past seven weeks, both the coroner and the families we represent heard shocking evidence about the level of security precautions at the Imperial Marhaba Hotel at the time of the terrorist attack.

"The level of terrorist threat in Tunisia had been escalating for some time prior to June 2015.

"This includes the failed suicide bomb attack at a beach in Sousse.

"Then, following the terrifying events at the Bardo Museum in March 2015, the Tunisian minister of tourism issued a letter requiring all hotels to improve security measures.

"Tragically these steps were not implemented at the Imperial Marhaba Hotel."

She said tour operator TUI had said it was "unaware" of the letter.

She added: "Our clients are very grateful to the coroner for his careful and sensitive handling of the inquest proceedings.

"They feel that he has been fair and thorough in his investigation and appreciate how he has tried to ensure throughout the families come first."

Nick Longman, the managing director of TUI UK, said the attack had "shocked and devastated all of us".

Speaking outside court he said: "We are so very sorry for the pain and loss those affected have suffered.

"On that day the world changed. As an industry we have adapted and we will need to continue to do so.

"This terrorist incident has left its mark on all of us and its impact will always be remembered."