A financial crime analyst repeatedly hit a London Bridge terrorist over the head with his skateboard before being stabbed to death, an inquest heard.

Ignacio Echeverria, 39, “reacted immediately” by stepping into protect a woman who was being targeted by Rachid Redouane on 3 June 2017.

The Spaniard, who worked for HSBC, had been skateboarding with friends before cycling past the terrorists as they launched their attack.

He got off his bike and joined unarmed PC Wayne Marques and off-duty PC Charlie Guenigault to help Marie Bondeville and her boyfriend Oliver Dowling, who both survived their injuries.

“It was like he didn’t even think about it, but reacted immediately,” said Mr Echeverria’s friend, Guillermo Sanchez-Montisi, in a statement read at the Old Bailey.

“From the way they were attacking people it was clear that their intentions were to kill everyone.

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“The girl was screaming and it was terrifying.”

CCTV footage played in court showed Mr Echeverria swinging his board at Redouane.

Mr Sanchez-Montisi added: “One of the attackers was covering his head as Ignacio was hitting him with the skateboard.

“I could hear the sound of the skateboard hitting, then suddenly Ignacio was on the floor.”

The CCTV footage shows a second attacker, Youssef Zaghba, 22, standing over Mr Echeverria and trying to stab him.

Mr Echeverria used his skateboard to parry the blows before being stabbed in the left side of his torso by Redouane.

“I saw him stab Ignacio deeply into his side or the back as he was on the floor,” said Mr Sanchez-Montisi.

“I saw how the knife disappeared into my friend as he lay on the floor with his skateboard on top of him. This was the first time I saw the knife.”

Mr Sanchez-Montisi said he thought he would also be stabbed by one of the attackers but managed to escape after throwing something in the way.

“When he was looking at me, his face, he looked like the devil,” he added.

“It was very painful to leave my friend but we were going to be next.”

Mr Sanchez-Montisi said the terror attack was the “craziest situation” he had ever seen.

“They were killing everyone, even the policemen. They were stabbing everyone everywhere they saw people,” he said.

“They looked prepared, professional and they were stood ready to attack. They knew what they were doing and they didn’t care.”

Mr Echeverria has posthumously received a string of awards in the UK and Spain for his bravery, including the George Medal, which his parents Joaquin Echeverria Alonso and Maria Miralles De Imperial Hornedo collected from the Queen last year.

He is the first person ever to be awarded a high commendation by each of the Metropolitan Police, City of London Police and the British Transport Police forces.

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Xavier Thomas, 45, Christine Archibald, 30, Sara Zelenak, 21, Sebastien Belanger, 36, James McMullan, 32, Kirsty Boden, 28, and Alexandre Pigeard, 26, were also killed in the atrocity.

The three terrorists, Redouane, Zaghba, and Khuram Butt, 27, were shot dead by police less than 10 minutes after launched their attack.

The inquest continues.