Gravesend councillor Brian Sangha has praised the "Dunkirk spirit" of those involved in the mission to bring stranded Brits home during the coronavirus outbreak.

Cllr Sangha spoke out last month to plead for help when he and more than 100 Gravesend residents got trapped under lockdown restrictions in the Punjab region while on holiday.

With flights cancelled and no emergency plan in place, he criticised the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) for a lack of action - but has now praised those involved after being flown home this week.

Although only 16 of the Gravesend group are back home, he said he was confident that the rest would follow on further flights.

"I'm feeling much better being back here," he said today. "Although I've come back to a strange situation but I feel a lot safer.

"I managed to get on the repatriation flight provided by British Airways. If there's something in this, it's the Dunkirk spirit among the British, which I classify myself as too.

"The BA flight crew had never flown to Amritsar, but they were brilliant. They were volunteers and they were cheerful and trying to keep people in order, and being helpful with seating arrangements and special needs.

"The Foreign Office - once they got going the transport arrangements were good."

Cllr Sangha flew back with his wife and an elderly Gravesend resident who needed assistance on Monday, and says further flights have since been arranged with more to follow this weekend.

"The FCO have got a good idea of how many people they have in Punjab so they're going to out on more flights to get everyone back home," he added. "I'm more confident now than three days ago. It took the FCO a long time to react but once they got the lists they've sprung into action and been efficient."

Speaking last month Cllr Sangha said conditions were especially tough due to the severity of the Punjab police, who had enforced lockdown with an iron fist and even marked the hands of suspected Covid-19 carriers.

And he said the ordeal had been particularly tough in the wake of the death of his son, Randeep Sangha, aged 40.

"I lost my son to cancer four months ago," he said, "so we had left his wife and young children in Meopham. They were so worried and I wanted to be near for support.

"We've been devastated. December and January were awful and we only made this trip because we had to finish some business. "We only meant to be away for ten days but it's been 35."

For the latest coronavirus news and advice, click here.

Read more: all the latest news from Gravesend.