A 22-year-old Kent man is lucky to be alive after pirates attacked the island paradise where he was staying.

Richard England, of Faversham Road, Kennington, Ashford, was eating dinner on Pemba Island, Tanzania, last Friday with the rest of his travelling party when seven attackers, armed with guns and machete knives stole a boat and engines, as well as money and personal possessions.

The 25-strong diving enthusiasts were on an organised trip with the marine conservation group Frontier and had only arrived on the island that morning.

The bandits opened fire, and the same bullet hit Grace Foster, 18, from Cambridgeshire, and Robert Scott, 20, from Bristol. The bullet passed millimetres from Miss Foster's spine and into Mr Scott's leg.

Despite heavy bleeding from the two casualties, the whole group were forced to get down on the floor by the gang, and were threatened with their lives if they did not comply.

Mr England, who was recently featured in the Kentish Express newspaper raising money for the trip said: "Everyone was petrified. We just had to keep quiet." He said his money and passport were not stolen but an expensive diving watch and computer was.

Both victims were later taken to a hospital in Dar es Salaam, and have recently flown back to the UK.

Mr England has decided to stay out in Tanzania, at least for the time being, and is about to leave for a two-week safari with some other members of the group.

The group had been at first told by Frontier that if they chose to return home they would not receive a refund. However, the 25-strong group met Frontier representatives to demand their money back.

Mr Hedley-Miller, group spokesman for Frontier, said the other volunteers had now been moved from the island, parents had been informed, and senior Frontier representatives were flying to Tanzania to help.

Richard England's brother, James, is angry at Frontier for giving parents little or no information about the attack.

"Although the attack happened on the Friday, it was not until I was watching the news on Sunday that I even found out anything had happened," he said. "Apparently Frontier did have a mobile, yet it was only the injured casualties' families that were called.

"From what Rich has told us, Frontier was a complete nightmare. They quite clearly had no contingency planned for this to happen. As the emergency boat was stolen, and Frontier not having any land based vehicles, it meant the group were trapped."

He also complained that no mention had been made about an attack on Pemba in February.

Mr Hedley-Miller added that this was the first attack of its kind since Frontier began operating in Tanzania in 1989. However, it has since been revealed that there had been a previous armed robbery in Pemba in February when a diving group was attacked by machete-wielding bandits who robbed the group of about $5,000.

Neal Hammond, of the British High Commission in Dar es Salaam, confirmed there had been other attacks at lodges along the Tanzanian coastline.

Tanzania's British High Commissioner, Dr Andrew Pocock, said on Monday: "I would have thought in the circumstances something would need to be done on the security side, both to reassure the rest of the party and to make sure that this doesn't happen again."

Tanzanian police have arrested two local men in the town of Tanga for questioning in connection with the shootings.