A university lecturer was smuggled past armed guards to escape a violent African country.

Dominic Kniveton, who teaches at the University of Sussex, donned an airline uniform to sneak past security in the Democratic Republic of Congo after a mix-up with his plane ticket left him stranded in the country without a visa.

The 38-year-old, who lives in Hove with his partner Vicky and their three children, flew to the Republic of Congo last month to give a lecture about his research on rainfall.

When he arrived at the airport to catch his plane home a few days later he discovered Air France had double-booked the flights of about 50 passengers.

He and dozens of other Europeans were told to fly to the Democratic Republic of Congo, formerly Zaire, from where they could catch connecting flights to Paris, and then the UK.

But on landing at the capital, Kinshasa, Dr Kniveton was refused a seat on the Paris-bound Air France flight because of another apparent mix-up over tickets, and found himself stranded in the hostile country without a visa.

Rather than risk arrest in the war-torn country, he was helped by staff from Air France to a nearby hotel.

Once there he was given strict instructions to stay out of sight and avoid arousing suspicion until the next scheduled flight to France.

Dr Kniveton said: "I was told not to mention visas on the phone because the calls are monitored.

"I was also told not to contact the British Embassy and not to leave the hotel because I risked arrest.

"I was told to stay put if I heard gunfire."

The political situation in the country is particularly dangerous for Westerners.

An unsuccessful coup attempt in June was followed by violent protests against countries like the UK, which prompted Europeans to leave the country for their own safety.

Dr Kniveton, who admitted he was not the bravest person in the world, said: "I didn't know what on earth would happen if I was caught.

"It was scary and I felt isolated. I was stressed on the first night and thought I heard gunfire.

"But it was a nice hotel with a swimming pool and I watched a lot of football."

Three days later, he was ready to catch the next flight back to Paris. The last hurdle was getting on the plane without a visa. His only option was to attempt to penetrate the airport's tough security.

An Air France worker supplied him with an airline uniform and, together, they passed through several checkpoints, while he attempted to maintain his shaky French.

He said: "I had to get back into the airport without a visa. Someone drove me through and I put on an Air France jacket.

"I had to go through three checkpoints pretending I was a member of the ground crew."

Dr Kniveton said he could feel his adrenalin pumping as he passed the checkpoints. At one point he was asked if he was there to fix the plane.

He said: "I genuinely heard my heart thumping, and it was very stressful. I was breaking into a military establishment and I didn't know what they would do if they caught me.

"When you are trying to break into a place pretending to be somebody else you are trying not to think of the consequences.

"I was told to say nothing. My French is really bad and I'm not a natural French speaker."

But somehow the lecturer, who has been teaching physical geography at the University of Sussex for three years, held his nerve and the plan worked perfectly.

He was given a seat on business class and drank champagne as he was flown to Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris on October 5.

Having returned to Hove safely, Dr Kniveton said he was grateful for the help of Air France staff who put themselves at risk to help him.

Back at work yesterday, he said he was hoping his visit to South Africa next week would be smoother.

He said: "I'm hoping my trip to Johannesburg will be a breeze. I don't know about going back to Kinsasha - but if I did I would take a visa next time."

A spokeswoman for Air France said: "Air France was not aware of this matter until now and we will be looking into it."