AS the horror of the conflict in Lebanon continues to unfold, The Press can today reveal that a chef from North Yorkshire is among the desperate Britons trapped in the war-torn country.

Camille Chehab is under siege as Israeli warplanes pound the city around him.

Speaking to The Press from Beirut, Mr Chehab described watching the street behind him explode, as he and his fiance cheated death by seconds.

He said: "I was in a car with my fiance, Micha, and her brother. We were driving along, I looked in the rear-view mirror and the road behind me exploded. If we had been two minutes slower, we would have all been dead.

"Micha's brother, who knows the area well, grabbed the steering wheel and drove into a garden, where we hid for hours."

Back in Newton-on-Ouse, Mr Chehab's three teenage daughters, Tania, Nicole and Natasha, said they wanted "more than anything" to get their dad back home safe and sound.

The 48-year-old restaurateur has run the kitchen at the Blacksmith's Arms in picturesque Newton-on-Ouse, near York, since 1997.

But today he is stuck in Lebanon, awaiting evacuation by British warships among them HMS York.

He said bombs were striking the city "on a major scale", one of which had destroyed his car.

He said: "Even my Renault was bombed. It was parked in a street near my mother's house, and it's now completely destroyed in a bomb blast."

Mr Chehab was born in Beirut, but is now a British citizen, and has lived here for 20 years. A former captain in the Lebanese Army, Mr Chehab was expelled and forced to leave Lebanon two decades ago.

He travelled to Beirut on July 8, to spend a week organising his marriage to Micha who herself has recently been granted British citizenship.

In theory, the couple are due to be married in North Yorkshire in September.

But as Mr Chehab was arranging travel permits for Micha, Hezbollah fighters launched rockets into Israel, precipitating the current crisis.

Mr Chehab's daughter Tania, 19, said: "He's not safe nowhere in that country is but dad has been in worse situations before. I'm sure he'll come through this too."

Nicole, 18, spoke of the dramatic moment when they realised their father would not be coming home.

She said: "We saw the news break on the television, and he sent us a text message saying bad news the airport is closed'. In fact, we had watched it being bombed on TV."