A Kent MP is facing a media storm after his refugee barber, who he accused of going on holiday to his homeland, actually spent his summer break in Norfolk - it has been reported.

Adam Holloway, MP for Gravesham, made a controversial speech in the Commons yesterday in which he claimed he couldn't get a haircut because his barber returned to the country from which he fled.

Shivan Saeed, 23, who works in Kent Barbers in Gravesend and claims to have cut Mr Holloway's hair "maybe 30 times", told a national news website that he in fact went to Great Yarmouth for a beach break.

Mr Holloway has since claimed that the comment was pre-planned, and that he was "really pleased" about the storm he has created because "it made people listen to what was being said".

Speaking to Mail Online, Mr Saeed said: "I was in Great Yarmouth for a week, I just took the kids and my wife.

"We went on the beach, went to the arcades and stayed in a little caravan.

"I have asylum in this country. I have been here since 2008.

"I have been working here for six years. I left Iraq because of the war and violence, it is not safe.

"It’s dangerous to go back to Iraq - if I wanted to go back there why would I have come here?

"Next time I see him, I will tell him. I am not annoyed - I am alright with it. He just got it wrong."

Mr Saeed added that Mr Holloway, 50, was "a very nice bloke" and that he normally opted for a £7 scissor cut - but was always gracious enough to leave a ten-pound note.

Speaking to KentOnline yesterday, Mr Holloway said he had been inundated with messages of support since making the speech, in which he described Germany and other European countries as "bonkers" for giving refugees the right to settle.

He said: "I’ve had more e-mails from people supporting me on this than when I resigned from government over the referendum.

"I’ve had more e-mails than I can begin to read and mostly from decent people, not bigoted fascists.

"They are all saying ‘We’ve got to be honest about this problem’.”