Stanley Horne and Liesel Smith died on Sunday at the resort of Morjim.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We can confirm that two British nationals drowned at Morjim beach in Goa on April 6."

The pair, who were both from Dover, Kent, were close friends who had met when they worked as nurses in the same hospital.

Mr Horne, 70, who was also a trained hospital engineer, had been living in Goa for the past four years, and Ms Smith, 37, had been on holiday visiting him when the tragedy occurred.

Mr Horne's daughter-in-law, Heather, said the pair had drowned after Ms Smith had got into difficulty as she swam in the water and he had tried to rescue her.

She said there were several witnesses on the beach who had seen what had happened. "The sea was rough, it was an accident that could have happened anywhere," she said.

Mrs Horne, who is married to Mr Horne's eldest son, David, described him as a, "quiet, gentle man" who had fallen in love with India the first time he had gone there.

Ms Smith is believed to be divorced with a son.

Post mortems are due to be carried out today and the bodies are then expected to be flown back to the UK.