A couple who cheated death during the tsunami that struck on Boxing Day last year, are returning to Thailand to pay their respects to those who died.

Peter Smith and partner, Tracey Gibbons, both 39, from Fulwood, will be in the resort of Phuket exactly a year after the disaster which killed thousands of people.

Peter, a former pupil of St Cutherbert Mayne High School, now Our Lady's, will go to Patonga Beach on Boxing Day morning for a two minute silence. He said: "There's going to be a memorial service on the anniversary and we really want to be a part of that."

The couple will revisit all the sites they saw devastated in the disaster. Peter said they decided to return to Thailand to help boost its tourism industry.

"We wanted to go back because by paying the money to go we'll be helping the community rebuild their lives," he said.

Minutes before the tsunami hit, Peter and Tracey had been on their way to a photo shop with children, Hannah, 14, and Sebastian, nine. By sheer chance, they were delayed at their hotel. The photo shop was completely destroyed. Peter, a landscape gardener, said: "It was incredible. Bodies were being pulled out of the rubble and families were having to identify their loved ones. I don't feel like it has affected me but Hannah doesn't like going to beaches anymore."

The couple are leaving their children at home this time.