BRAZIL: Three British women have been held at gunpoint, imprisoned in the luggage compartment of a bus and robbed by hijackers.

Lucy Marks, Maude Harris and Shanna Barker where the only tourists on a night bus from Sao Paolo to the Iguazu Falls when three hooded men forced the driver at gunpoint to take the bus to woodland.

There one of the attackers pointed his weapon at 22-year-old Miss Marks' head and shouted "dollars, dollars".

She gave him all her money, £70, but managed to slide her passport down the side of the seat to keep it safe.

The gunmen then marched some of the other passengers, including Miss Marks, from Poole, Dorset, off the bus.

She said: "I thought they'd kill us but they forced us into a baggage compartment."

Miss Marks and Miss Harris, also 22, from Poole, are to continue their trip four-month trip and fly home on August 7. Miss Barker, of Bournemouth, had joined them for two weeks days before Friday's hold-up.

Miss Marks' father Jeff said: "I'm delighted they're all safe."