A Christian Tory election candidate has described how she prayed for a man who was later healed.

Kirsty Adams, Conservative candidate for the marginal seat of Hove and Portslade, said she laid hands on a deaf man's ears and prayed: 'Be healed in Jesus' name.' Afterwards the man removed his hearing aids and could hear, Adams said.

Standing in the hotly contested seat on the south coast, which Labour won from the Tories by just 1,236 votes in 2015, Adams defended her beliefs to the Mirror newspaper.

'Millions of Christians around the world pray for people's health - that's a good thing isn't it?,' she said.

'It's about tolerance and we are a city of tremendous tolerance.'

But the Tory candidate was criticised by senior Labour MP Paul Flynn who told the paper: 'I think they'll probably make her the science spokesman if she does get elected for the Tory party. She seems up to their standard of unscientific science.'

It comes after a recording of her speaking about the healing was published on King's Arms Church in 2010. Adams attended the church in Bedford where she had served as a Tory councillor.

In the recording Adams describes how she had run 'healing centre' with her church at the New Age Vitality Show in Earl's Court in March 2009. There she met a deaf man and offered to pray for him.

'He had hearing aids in both ears and I just thought that wasn't right. It just annoyed me,' she said in the church interview.

'So I said: "I don't think that's quite right, is it? That you should be serving God like this."

'So I said: "Can I pray for you?" - and his eyes lit up, which is unusual when you offer to pray for someone's healing. You don't expect that.'

Afterwards the man could hear without his aides.

'I don't know if he was more surprised or me,' she said.

The evangelical church is known for its healing ministry and regularly shares stories of healings on its website.