Melissa Sood and her family had been visiting her grandmother in Biscarrossee, 40 miles outside of Bordeaux, and were out for dinner when police told them they would have to evacuate

A British family were left sleeping in a tent in a garden after the wildfires in France forced them to evacuate, with the family stranded and sleeping on the beach at one point.

Melissa Sood and her family were on a trip to visit her grandmother when the family was evacuated as wildfires ravaged the seaside town of Biscarrosse, around 40 miles southwest of Bordeaux. The mum, 33, had been visiting the region with her husband Sunny, 42, a police officer, her daughter, 14, and her brother and sister.

Melissa said she and her family were initially left stranded on the beach, sleeping on cardboard boxes until a family friend reached out and said they could camp in their garden in Sanguinet, around seven miles away.

The wildfires currently tearing through the region have left the family sleeping in a supermarket tent in their friend's garden since Friday, with no clue as to when they will be able to return to their home in Basingstoke. They are unable to leave the country as roads to the airport are blocked and they can't get back to Melissa's grandma's house to get their house keys.

They were among more than 200,000 people who were evacuated in France, as wildfires burn through an area four times the size of Paris. President Emmanuel Macron warned France was experiencing "completely unprecedented" wildfires, which he described as the "toughest since World War Two".

GP practice manager Melissa said: "The fire looked like a scene from a disaster movie, it was terrible. We started to hear explosions, from the gas canisters in people's barbecues, it was really eerie. My daughter was really scared.

"Our house was evacuated; we had to pull some cardboard boxes out of a recycling bin and use them to try and sleep on the grass. There's no hotels anywhere, we've been sleeping in a tent in a kind French person's garden since Friday, we've had no sleep at all."

Melissa and her family travelled to France on July 20 to visit her 83-year-old grandma in Biscarrosse. The family had spent a few days relaxing and went down to the beach on July 23 for some quality family time. But on their way back, Melissa spotted large plumes of smoke in the distance, and a van that had caught fire.

"I didn't think much of it," she said. "I grew up here, and I've seen vehicles catch fire, and then they're put out and it's done."

The family arrived back home and decided later in the evening to wander into the town centre for some dinner. But, Melissa said: "All of a sudden, the police came into the restaurant and said we needed to evacuate. We started to run back to the house and there were water planes flying over, and the air was just black. The air quality was terrible."

They raced back to Melissa's grandma's house to pick up their passports and a few key belongings before making their way down to the beach. Melissa said: "It was chaos, the whole town had been evacuated there."

After checking a local Facebook group, the family realised that a local school was being used as an evacuation centre, but when they arrived there, they were told by volunteers that only Melissa's grandmother could stay there, as they couldn't help people who weren't residents. Melissa said: "I had to beg them to even use the loo."

The family headed back to the beach, and, as it was now about 3am, they tried to sleep by pulling some cardboard boxes out of a bin and lying down on the grass with them. Melissa said: "After about an hour the sprinklers turned on. We got no sleep whatsoever."

Thankfully a family friend of Melissa's grandmother offered them a garden to sleep in. Melissa said: "We ended up having to go to the local supermarket and picking up a tent so we could sleep in the garden. We've got no blow-up beds as they're out of stock everywhere, and just a few blankets."

Melissa and her family are due to fly back home tomorrow, July 30, but they still haven't been able to get back to their grandma's house to collect their belongings. Melissa said: "I don't even have my house keys. All we've got is the clothes that we're wearing, we can't even go to the shops to buy anything, as they're all shut."

The roads between where the family are staying and Bordeaux airport are also blocked due to the fires, leaving the family unsure how they will get to the airport. Melissa said: "We keep getting alerts on our phone saying the area we are in now might be evacuated as well. We don't know what else to do."

The family don't even know if Melissa's grandma's home is still standing. Sunny spent about 11 hours on the phone with insurance company Philip Williams, which said it might be able to pay for expenses, such as the cost of the tent. The family also contacted the British Embassy, but since it was in Paris, and the family can't get there, there's nothing they can do.

"There's absolutely no help for people like us, camping in gardens," Sunny said. "Somebody needs to take ownership, either the insurance company, the British Embassy, or French officials."