A Sussex hairdresser spoke of his relief last night at escaping the rioting in Nigeria that has killed and injured hundreds.

Willie Hendry was kept under 24-hour armed guard as violence escalated due to the staging of the Miss World contest in the capital, Abuja.

At least 215 people are said to have been killed and hundreds more injured in the riots between Muslims and Christians.

Mr Hendry, 28, of Seven Dials, Brighton, flew to Nigeria as chief hairstylist for the contest.

But as the bloodshed escalated, he caught an early-morning flight to Gatwick yesterday with colleague Douglas Hobbs, thankful they had come to no harm.

He said: "Although the president of Nigeria was urging calm we felt it wasn't safe to stay. We're relieved to be out of there."

Mr Hendry, co-owner of the Ash salon in Brighton, left for Nigeria with Mr Hobbs two weeks ago to organise 20 stylists and get to know the contestants.

Unrest erupted following a newspaper article claiming Islam's founding prophet Muhammad would have wanted to marry one of the contestants.

The event has been switched to London on December 7.