The death of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has received a mixed response from Islanders. Alex Norman spoke to people in Sheerness High Street about their views ...

Former labourer, Paul Smith, 65, Noreen Avenue, Minster, said: "Half the country will be rejoicing and half will not. She was good in her day. She said what she though was right, and a lot of what she said was right. The country needed a strong leader at the time and she was one."

Retired Tilly Probyn, 75, Jefferson Road, Sheerness, said: "I liked her and the way she ran the country, she was straightforward.

"But I didn’t like the fact that she sold the council houses off."

Stay at home mum Amanda Durley, 27, Ashcroft Coast Caravan Park, said: "I think she was very brave being the first and so far only female prime minister, she had a lot to live up to. She may have made some mistakes but she stood up for what she believed."

Doorman Steve Mansfield, 37, of Coronation Road, Sheerness, said: "I was only young when she was in power but I remember her being flung out.

"Politically I think she did right, until the poll tax and then the country turned against her."

Nurse Lesley Roberts, 47, Clyde Street, Sheerness, said: "I didn’t think a lot of her while in government, selling all our industries."

Plumber Dave Reichard, 63, Unity Street, Sheerness, said: "Luckily what she did in government didn’t affect me at all but the most good she did was taking the Falklands back."

Meanwhile, council leader Cllr Andrew Bowles has paid tribute, saying he got into politics because of Mrs Thatcher.

He said: “It is very sad but possibly not unexpected looking at how she appeared on her last public appearances.

“I’m sure history will, if it hasn’t already, judge her as one of the most iconic figures of the 20th century.

“She was the one who brought me into politics because we had a prime minister who said something and she meant it and if she said she was going to get something done it was done.

“She turned this country around. It was going to the proverbial dogs when she became PM. She made a tremendous difference not just to this country but the whole of the western world.”