THE daughter of a former US congressman was moved to tears after attending the special service in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford.

Mary Lou Carpenter, who was spending her first day in the UK as part of a tour group from America, said the horror of Tuesday had been "a big wake-up call" for many Americans.

"The average American is naive. Their understanding of how the rest of the World sees them is extremely limited," said Mrs Carpenter of Minneapolis, Minnesota, whose father Walter Judd was Republican congressman for Minneapolis from 1942 to 1962 and a member of the US Foreign Affairs Committee.

"We are so naive as a culture.

"We have enjoyed so much freedom and so much indestructibility," said a visibly distressed Mrs Carpenter, who is staying at the Golden Pheasant Hotel, in Burford.

"My father understood that the US is not an isolated island," she added.

Dian and Floyd Lawson, of Missouri, admitted they were bewildered by what had happened.

"We are all rather sad and hopeful that we will have some peace," said Mrs Lawson.

The couple, who are staying at the Grosvenor House Hotel, in London, and were visiting Stratford for the day, said they did not know if they would be able to fly home on Saturday as scheduled.

Frank Dux, of Buffalo, New York state, who is staying in Stratford for six months, said: "I hope it will be properly investigated and they find out who did this terrible thing."