Waco: The Aftermath: After the inferno, relatives mourn the dead: As families of the 24 Britons feared lost try to come to terms with their grief, John Major rules out law to ban religious cults

JOHN MAJOR yesterday rejected calls for legislation to bar organisations like the Branch Davidians from recruiting in Britain.

But, he said, the Government was 'prepared and willing' to use existing powers to regulate behaviour which might infringe the rights of individuals. Immigration laws could also be used to ban from Britain people wishing to establish cults.

Derek Lovelock and Renos Avraam, the two British survivors of the fire, appeared in court in Waco yesterday on holding charges of being a 'material witness'. The charges allow the men to be held as federal witnesses while an investigation is carried out into the events that led to the deaths. David Hook, the British vice- consul in Houston, said Mr Lovelock had suffered second-degree burns on his right arm but Mr Avraam was unhurt because he had escaped through a window.

Twenty-four Britons are thought to be among the 86 members of David Koresh's cult feared dead. Some of their relatives said they had given up hope. Geoffrey Sellors, of Derby, whose son Clifford, 33, was at the ranch, said: 'It will be some time before we can come to terms with it and accept what has happened. We thought at first he was still in California and we don't know why he chose to join this particular cult.' Marjorie Sellors, Clifford's mother, added: 'I am relieved it is all over.'

Britons believed to have survived the fire are: Derek Lloyd Lovelock, 37, of South Manchester; and Renos Avraam, 29.

Released during siege: Victorine Hollingsworth, 59; Livingstone Fagan, 32, Renae Fagan, six, and Neharah Fagan, four, of Nottingham; Natalie Nobrega, 11, of Winchmore Hill, north London.

Believed dead in original shoot- out: Winston Blake, 28, of Nottingham.

Unaccounted for: Beverley Eliot, 28, of Nottingham; Teresa Nobrega, 48, of Winchmore Hill, London; John McBean, of Nottingham; Cliff Sellors, 33, of Spalding, Lincs; Sandra Hardial, 27, of Manchester; Adina Fagan, Evette Fagan, 32, of Nottingham; Susie Benta, 30; Zilla Henry, 55, Diana Henry, 28, Pauline Henry, 25, Vanessa Henry, 19, Stephen Henry, 26, and Phillip Henry, 22, all of Manchester; Alison Bernadette Monbelly, 31; Rosemary Morrison, 29, and Melissa Morrison, six, of Manchester.

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