A SCOTTISH couple pulled from the wreckage of a cinema after the Christchurch earthquake have relived their ordeal, one year on from the disaster.

Peter and Dorcas Symms found themselves covered by fallen masonry after deciding at the last minute to watch a film at the New Zealand city's Regent Cinema on February 22, when the 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck.

Speaking for the first time about their ordeal, Peter, who suffered leg injuries in the incident, praised staff who helped him escape from the dangerously unstable building by climbing over rubble and broken seats.

In total, 180 people died and thousands were left homeless by the worst natural disaster to hit the country in 80 years.

The couple, from Melrose in Roxburghshire, had been spending three months of every year in a rented house in the city, but had decided to go to the cinema after their walking trip was cancelled due to rain.

Peter, a retired university lecturer, said: "We walked back into the centre of town to catch the bus back home, when we passed the Regent Cinema on the edge of Cathedral Square and decided to call in and watch a film.

"There were only a small handful of people in the cinema, and we were able to move our seats to get a clearer view of the screen.

"This turned out to be a bad idea, because the seats that we moved to were right under the part of the roof that came in on top of us.

"There was a massive noise, something like a large explosion, all the lights went off, the alarms and sprinkler systems cut in and we found ourselves lying with rubble on top of us staring up at the sky above.

Mr Symms said one of the cinema's staff had run out to tell the manager they were trapped.

He said they lifted him to his feet and got them out into the devastated Cathedral Square, where passers-by gave him first aid.

He added: "A man came up who announced himself as a St John's first-aider, who came from Glasgow.

"He commandeered a vehicle to take us both to the hospital, which by then was dealing with around 200 casualties."

Peter, who hopes to return to New Zealand, added: "I now know what it is like to be so close to death.

"The quake and all its ramifications has shown us the best side of human nature."