GRIEVING relatives of British tourists killed in the 2015 Tunisia terror attack are preparing to sue travel firm TUI over the deaths of their loved ones at the hands of an Islamic extremist.

Lawyers said they planned civil proceedings against the tour operator after the coroner conducting the inquests of the 30 Britons murdered on the Mediterranean coast in Sousse ruled they were unlawfully killed.

However, Judge Nicholas Loraine-Smith ruled against a finding of “neglect” by Thomson owner TUI, or the owners of the Riu Imperial Marhaba where radicalised mass-killer Seifeddine Rezgui slaughtered a total of 38 people, including three Irish citizens.

The families of the dead, many of whom wept as the inquests’ conclusions were read out on Tuesday, were highly critical of security at the hotel, which only had a handful of unarmed guards on duty when Rezgui struck, armed with an AK-47 assault rifle and home-made grenades.

They also believed that TUI did not do enough to warn holidaymakers before they booked about the dangers in Tunisia, which had suffered a fatal terrorist attack in the capital Tunis just three months earlier. This included making them aware of official Foreign Office travel advice which warned of a high threat of terrorism.

Kylie Hutchison, from law firm Irwin Mitchell, which represents 22 victims’ families, said they had heard “shocking evidence about the level of security precautions at the Imperial Marhaba Hotel at the time of the terrorist attack”.

Speaking outside the Royal Courts of Justice after the inquests finished, she 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.”

Rezgui, who had been radicalised just 18 months before the June 26 attack, killed holidaymakers on the hotel’s private beach before walking through an unlocked gate into the grounds and the main building to continue the slaughter.

Earlier Judge Loraine-Smith said that the law limited the circumstances in which he could rule “neglect” played a part in a death, which applied only in cases were someone had a duty of care towards someone because of their “youth, age, illness or incarceration”.

He added: “That does not cover, it seems to me, tourists who have voluntarily agreed to go on holiday abroad.”

To read the full story, click here.