A HELSTON mother who confronted a blood-soaked man wielding a meat cleaver in London, after a soldier was hacked to death on the street has told the Packet: “It's in my character.”

Ingrid Loyau-Kennett from Bulwark Road, whose actions in London last week attracted international headlines, said her friends were “not surprised” by what has emerged, explaining: “I fight the companies who don’t respect me as a client, giving bad service. I speak out and I’m not frightened to complain.

“I will never accept to be disrespected or badly treated by anyone on anything.”

Ms Loyau-Kennett, from Bulwark Road, spared no thought for her own safety when she jumped from a bus in Woolwich, London to offer her help to what she believed initially was the victim of a road accident lying prone on the road.

It quickly became clear the man was in fact the victim of a sickening crime and the 48-year-old found herself trying to reason with an alleged killer, in an effort to focus his attention away from others in the area, including many young children.

She later attempted to explain her actions by saying simply: “Better me than a child.”

It is a moment of heroism that captured the hearts of a nation and won Ms Loyau-Kennett plaudits worldwide, yet the mother-of-two still insists she is no heroine.

In an interview with the Packet, Ms Loyau-Kennett said: “It’s a bit overwhelming really. It’s so big for what I’ve done – so big for ten minutes’ work.

“They’re very kind if they want me to be their hero. I just don’t feel like one.”

However, she admitted: “Who knows what would have happened had he been left. Maybe he would have thought, ‘Do I have to do it again?’.”

At no stage, though, did she believe her life was in danger.

“I didn’t think he wanted to kill or hurt a nice lady who was happy to talk to him. I never really felt frightened about that.”

And she agreed: “It’s nice to be recognised for what you have done.”

Half-French Ms Loyau-Kennett, who has lived in Helston for five years and hopes to find work as a translator for a humanitarian organisation, had actually been returning home after a visit to the capital to see her children, Basil and Pawony Baradaran, when the drama unfolded.

After reasoning with the man at the scene, the former cub scout and brownie leader, who suffers from debilitating fibromyalgia, got back on the bus as she had to catch a train back to Cornwall.

She actually made it as far as Plymouth before receiving a phone call from the ITV programme Daybreak, which paid for a taxi to take her back to London to be interviewed the following morning.

Since then the world’s media have been in touch, including French television, a South Korean newspaper and the media in Canada.

Ms Loyau-Kennett lived in Ipswich and then New Zealand before moving to Helston.

She has been a volunteer for ShelterBox in the past and a member of St Mary’s Catholic Church in Helston.

She remains a member of Cantabile Choir in Lanner, for which she sings tenor.

Patriotic Ms Loyau-Kennett, whose house is filled with Union Flag bunting and Royal tea towels, comes from a line of family members who have made a difference.

Her grandfather Basil Kennett she described as a “real British hero” having fought for four years as a flight lieutenant for the RAF during World War II, for which he won a distinguished flying cross (DFC), while her great grandfather William Kennett worked for MI5 during World War I.

She said: “I’m glad I did my bit for Queen and country.”

Praise for Ingrid Loyau-Kennett Father John Gilbert, from St Mary’s Catholic Church in Helston, where she has been a member, said the reaction from the congregation was one of “admiration.”

He told the Packet: “She is a very spirited lady. Those of us that have been chatting about it admire her very much for what she did.”

Father Gilbert said her actions were “very much within character,” adding: “She is a very strong person.”

Ms Loyau-Kennett has been praised for her “brave” actions by Prime Minister David Cameron, who said: “When told by the attacker he wanted to start a war in London, she replied, ‘You're going to lose. It is only you versus many.’ She spoke for us all.”

Helston’s MP Andrew George also paid tribute to Ms Loyau-Kennett who “had the courage to intervene in an attempt to calm the situation and to offer help.”

Her proud son Basil, who lives about a mile away from the crime scene, told the Packet: “I think it’s very brave – I don’t know if she agrees. The whole thing has taken her aback; this is something she thought she had to do.”

He believed a “maternal instinct of some sort” had taken over, adding: “She said there was something about him that she knew that if she got him to speak then she would be safe, because he had something to say and that would calm him down.”

Wayne Bulpitt, UK Chief Commissioner for the Scout Association said everyone was “proud” of Ms Loyau-Kennett for her “calm and measured actions” and revealed they were looking to make an award of bravery to recognise her actions.”