The relatives and friends of British victims of the Asian tsunami paid emotional tributes to their loved ones, as the mass inquest into the loss of 91 UK citizens heard further accounts of individual tragedy.

The second day of the inquest, at the Olympia Exhibition Centre in west London, heard harrowing details of how much-loved fathers, mothers, sons and daughters were swept to their deaths by the giant wave, each drowning in the water.

They were enjoying dream holidays with family or close friends when they died.

Among them was Leanne Cox, from Hartlepool, who had left the UK in November last year for a working backpacking holiday visiting Australia, New Zealand and the Far East.

She arrived on Phi Phi island in Thailand on Christmas Eve, and was staying at the Chan guesthouse with a friend when the giant wave struck. The pair were in their room, having returned from breakfast when the waters engulfed their accommodation.

While her friend survived, Miss Cox died and was subsequently identified by her fingerprints.

At yesterday's inquest at West London Coroner's Court, her devastated father Alan and mother Jean Dogan had a eulogy to their daughter read aloud, which paid tribute to her life but which also revealed the depth of their pain at her loss.

It said: ''Our daughter Leanne was a beautiful and amazing person who touched the lives of so many people and made a difference to the lives of everyone who knew her.

''Her warmth, her humour, her sense of fun, her understanding of people - Leanne had grown into a young woman who had got the priorities of her life right.

''She knew the value of true friendship, true love and of her family.''

It added: ''You are unique Leanne and irreplaceable. The loss of you has shattered our lives and nothing in our world will ever be the same again.''

Her parents said it was sometimes too painful to think of the past and ''too empty'' to look to the future with all that should have been.

But their tribute concluded by saying: ''We are so proud of the person you were and so thankful that you were ours Leanne, and until we meet again just around that corner, we will hold you in our hearts and never, ever forget you.''

The body of the 23-year-old accountancy and finance graduate was identified and repatriated in May this year.

Coroner Alison Thompson heard that she died by drowning and formally recorded that she was a victim of the tsunami.

Stephen Magson, 54, remained on the beach on the Thai island of Phi Phi while his wife Denise and stepdaughter India went kayaking on Boxing Day.

No one saw what happened to the company director, from York, or exactly where he was when the wall of water struck.

Denise and India were swept away but survived.

The inquest heard that they had all been staying at the Phi Phi Princess Diving and Spa Resort.