A Kent mum has told of the dramatic moment she and her family were evacuated from a beach in Rhodes moments before it was hit by a wildfire.

Debbie Roberts and her family were forced to jump between boats as they and hundreds of tourists fled the smoke and flames on the fire-ravaged Greek island.

It is thought that as many as 10,000 Britons alone could be stranded after the inferno was sparked on Saturday.

Ms Roberts, from Wingham, near Canterbury, was sat on a beach in Kiotari alongside her partner, mother and 14-year-old son when the circumstances deteriorated, forcing them to evacuate with nothing but their swimsuits and passports.

“We were on the beach having gin and tonics – you could see the smoke in the distance but everyone was telling us not to worry,” she told KentOnline.

“The bartender was smiling and telling us to have another drink, even as the hotel started bringing towels and masks for us to wear on our faces to protect us from the smoke.

“Everything seemed very calm, but my partner instinctively made the decision to head back to the hotel and grab our passports. He managed to get there moments before the alarms started sounding.”

Once the wind changed direction, the situation quickly escalated, Ms Roberts explained.

“Everything seemed OK one minute, and then the wind changed direction and it felt like our faces were burning,” she said.

“The wind was as hot as the flames would be themselves, and for a brief, mad moment I thought we were going to die.

“We all got to the end of the beach, to the furthest point, and waited to be rescued by incoming boats. I saw the bartender being dragged away – he was in tears, he didn’t want to leave his bar and had to be manhandled to safety. [The bar] is gone now, as far as I know – the fires took it.”

Rescue boats were launched to take those on Kiotari beach to safety. But only one of the vessels was able to dock at the beach to take passengers to awaiting military boats.

“When the first boat arrived, people were pushing and shoving to try and get on which was horrible,” Ms Roberts said.

“After that, thankfully, everyone settled down and behaved themselves. When we were taken, we then had to jump – literally – onto a second boat and then onto an army vessel, before speedboats took us to safety.”

The family-of-four have been camped out at a basketball arena, waiting for their flight home while being cared for by locals.

Ms Roberts added: “The locals have been absolutely amazing. These are people who are at risk of losing, or already have lost, everything – and yet they are going out of their way to look after us.

“Restaurants are running food and drink up every day and people are coming around and making sure we have water.

“Our travel agents have been no help but our flight is due to take off tomorrow – so, touch wood, we will be able to get that.

“I think when we get home it will hit us a bit harder in terms of everything we’ve been through. It still seems like a dream at the moment.”