A HOLIDAY-MAKER has been left utterly terrified after being caught up the fires on the French Riveria.

Lisa Minot and her family were evacuated from their camp site after forest fires broke out on Tuesday night.

At least 12,000 people have had to leave their campsites and homes in the south of France.

The travel editor of The Sun said that they were woken up by air raid sirens at 2.30am.

She said: “It was utterly terrifying. I have been coming here for years and this is the first time there has been an evacuation.

“When we heard the alarm and left our caravan, we looked up and saw huge, black, belching clouds of smoke and flame behind us.

“We can still hear the Canadair rescue planes to drop on the fire.”

Now Ms Minot and her family are staying in a tent on the beach nearby until further notice.

There are concerns that the winds may pick up which may reignite the blaze being tackled by 540 firefighters.

More than 800 hectares of forest have burned and the cause of the fire may be suspicious as it is believed that several smaller fires were started and picked up by the wind.

Ms Minot added: “It is chaos. We are here, then we are not here, we are being evacuated, we have been told to stay.

“Yesterday was the first time I have been able to sleep in two days, but we are in one of the safest places right now.

“We are just trying to pretend that we are still on holiday.”