THE Foreign Office has been accused of not doing enough to advise tourists ahead of an attack on a Tunisian beach in March 2015 where 38 people, including a mother-of-four from Blackwood, were killed.

Trudy Jones, who worked as an activities co-ordinator at Highfields Nursing Home in Blackwood, was among 30 Britons and eight others who died when a gunman opened fire at a resort near Sousse on Friday, June 26, 2015.

A preliminary hearing into the deaths was held on Tuesday, September 13 ahead of inquests, expected to start in January next year.

Speaking at the hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, Andrew Richie QC said many of the victim’s families were concerned the UK Government’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) did not do enough to advise holidaymakers or put measures in place following another attack at the Bardo National Museum in the country’s capital Tunis in March the same year, in which 24 people were killed.

"There is a line of thinking from the families that the FCO may have failed in their responsibility to the 60,000 British citizens who went out per month to Tunisia between the Bardo attack and Sousse," he said.

But Andrew O’Connor QC, representing the Government, told judge and coroner Nicholas Loraine-Smith: "All these suggestions are not accepted by the Foreign Office."

Although the government had said security documents held by the FCO and travel agents TUI, which owns Thompsons, should be withheld in the interests of national security, Mr Loraine-Smith ruled they should be made available to legal teams representing the victim’s families.

Speaking on behalf of the families, head of international personal injury at legal firm Irwin Mitchell Clive Garner welcomed the decision.

"It's over a year since this terrible tragedy and many of the victims' families are still in shock about what happened and still trying to come to terms with losing their loved ones,” he said.

"It is crucial that when the full inquests take place next January they shed light on exactly what happened during the attack and the lead-up to it.”

He added: "Obviously nothing can bring back those who lost their lives in such tragic circumstances.

“But the families we represent are seeking to have their questions answered and for lessons to be learned to reduce the risk of a similar incident occurring in the future."

Ms Jones, who was 51 when she died, was described by her sister Carol Davies as “a beautiful, bright selfless person whose personality lit up a room”.

A memorial bike ride in Blackwood organised by Andrew Gutteridge and the Valley Commandos MC was held in May and raised £800 for Cancer Research Wales and Help for Heroes.