With the British death toll in the Tunisian beach massacre expected to double to at least 30, a former soldier from Somerset man has spoken how he ran towards the gunfire to help the wounded, passing just feet from the gunman.

Keith Hawkes, a 70-year-old former Gurkha from Highbridge risked his own life to help wounded holidaymakers, saying that his military training kicked in.

Mr Hawkes told the Telegraph newspaper: “It was my training, we had to go and help them.

"I saw the gunman; I almost passed within feet of him trying to get to all those dead bodies

Adding: “Why he didn’t shoot me, I’ll never know.”

The latest figure for British victims comes after Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond warned that it was highly likely a "significant number" of victims yet to be identified would be British.

A total of 38 people were killed when a gunman opened fire on a beach in the Sousse resort on Friday, with the the Foreign Office already confirming 15 of them were from Britain.

At a briefing following an emergency meeting of cobra, Home Secretary Theresa May also said the British deaths figure was expected to rise as more information comes out.

Three Irish people are also among the dead.

Mr Hammond said there had been delays in identifying victims because many were "dressed for the beach, not carrying ID physically on them".

He added: "There are a significant number of victims who have not been positively identified at this time and it is highly likely that a significant proportion of them will be British."

He said it was "extraordinarily difficult" to predict where the next attack will happen and was no more likely to be in Tunisia than in a European city.

"Our agencies have been very frank about this over a long period of time now, they cannot guarantee that we will be safe from this kind of self-radicalising lone-wolf attack. It is the most difficult type of attack to detect and predict and therefore the most difficult kind to protect against."

Marking the gravity of the attack, the Queen took the unusual step of sending her condolences to the families of those killed in the atrocity.

She said the incident had left her and the Duke of Edinburgh "shocked".

The monarch also sent her "deepest sympathy" to those injured in Friday's brutal slaughter.

As tributes were paid to the victims by family and friends, Buckingham Palace released a statement from the Queen saying: "Prince Philip and I were shocked to learn of the attack on British tourists in Tunisia on Friday.

"We send our sincere condolences to the families of those who were killed and our deepest sympathy to the people who are still fighting for their lives in hospital, and those who have been seriously injured.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with those of all countries who have been affected by this terrible event."

The killing spree by Kalashnikov-wielding student Seifeddine Rezgui targeted western tourists on the beach at the RIU Imperial Marhaba and the RIU Bellevue and only ended when he was shot dead by police. A bomb was found on his body.

Investigators have revealed they are looking for at least one more accomplice, with an Interior Ministry spokesman telling the Associated Press they are sure that Rezgui had help.