FORMER Worcester man Nick Hughes was running late for work on Tuesday - and it could have saved his life.

The 38-year-old ex-Royal Grammar School pupil should have been walking towards his office in a Swiss bank at 5 World Trade Centre just before 9am.

Instead, he was about to turn off the radio and leave his New York City home when he caught the first reports of a plane flying into one of the two towers.

Mr Hughes said today he was now trying to get news of former colleagues at Morgan Stanley - which had offices over several floors of one of the towers.

"I feel a sense of loss that is almost physical. I've taken my dad, brothers and sisters, to the top of those towers. I've taken my kids there for God's sake," he said.

He told the Evening News of the "blitz" spirit which had descended on an embattled Manhattan.

Meanwhile, Mr Hughes' parents John and Patricia, who live in Astwood Farm, Worcester, faced an agonising wait before they knew whether he was alive or dead.

"I never want to go through anything like that again," said his father.

"I really thought he might be dead. It's the worst thing I've ever had to face, sheer agony. But I just about managed to keep myself together."

He was in Gloucester on Tuesday afternoon, and it was not until he arrived back in Worcester two hours later he knew his son was safe.

His daughter, Tracey Kendall-Smith, picked him up from the train station and Mr Hughes' first words were "is Nick still working in the World Trade Centre?".

"She told me not to worry, that Nick had rung to say he was safe," said his father.

"When I got home Nick's mother was watching the disaster unfold on the television and it was quite an emotional reunion. I've spoken to Nick and he's devastated."

Meanwhile, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said today around 100 Britons were known to have died in the New York terror attacks and the final toll could reach the "middle hundreds".

Hundreds of Britons are believed to have been working in the twin towers of the World Trade Centre when they were destroyed, many in banks and other financial institutions.

Mr Straw said Scotland Yard's casualty bureau was in the process of contacting the families of the dead.