A councillor was just yards from a terrorist bomb blast in Sri Lanka.

Padmini Nissanga had returned to the country of her birth for "emergency family business" when nine suicide bombers detonated a series of explosions on Easter Sunday.

Eight Britons were among 253 people killed when three hotels and three churches were targeted.

Speaking at her detached house in Warden the 76-year-old former care home owner said: "I had a miracle escape. The night before, I had been having a family birthday meal in that very hotel with my son and my two brothers and their wives.

"I am still shaking at the thought of what might had happened if I'd spent the night there."

Instead, she had made a last-minute decision to cancel her booking and switched to another hotel across the road.

She said: "I always try to stay in the Kingsbury Hotel. It is beautiful. But this time my brother suggested I try the 14-storey Galadari which had just been renovated. So I switched bookings at the last minute.

"I was in my room on the 10th floor about 9am the next morning and was about to go down to breakfast when I heard a big noise.

"At first I thought something had fallen off one of the cranes as there is a lot of building work going on in that area. I didn't realise it had been a bomb.

"I looked out the window and could see people streaming out of the bottom of the other hotel.

"Within minutes ambulance, police, fire crews and then the bomb disposal squad were at the scene.

"It was horrible. I could see what looked like bodies in body bags being loaded into a big van. It has really shaken me up."

Back home, colleagues on Warden parish council were concerned for her safety.

She had told them she was visiting Sri Lanka on family business and flew out on April 11. But after the blast no one could reach her. They even posted an alert on Facebook.

Following an initial evacuation and security search of her own hotel, guests were allowed back in but not allowed out onto the streets until their flights.

Cllr Nissanga, who is seeking to retain her Ukip seat on Swale council in Thursday's local elections, flew back to Britain on Easter Monday and arrived home on Tuesday last week.

The practising Buddhist said: "We are taught to respect all life, including animals, and not seek revenge. But this attack seems to have been carried out by Muslims returning from Syria. It is a lesson for Britain. I love this country but exactly the same thing could happen here if we let Islamic State terrorists back in."

Cllr Nissanga is no stranger to controversy.

Last month the former United Nations spokesman hit the headlines after posting 'revolting' comments on her Facebook page saying those who voted to remain in the European Union in the Referendum should be treated as 'traitors' and face the death penalty.

Members of Canterbury Mosque made an impromptu 'solidarity' visit to Canterbury Cathedral to lay flowers in memory of the victims of the terrorist attack.

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