An 87-year-old pensioner has travelled to Portugal to express her gratitude to the city which offered her family safe haven from the Nazis.

But when Blanchette Fluer arrived in Caldas Da Rainha, she was met by the mayor, a host of dignitaries, a TV crew and local paper - all of whom had turned out to thank her.

Mrs Fluer, together with her parents Rosa and Bernard Rubin and older brother Samuel, was taken in by residents of Caldas when they arrived as Jewish refugees in 1942.

The family fled their native Belgium, soon after the Nazi invasion. Their journey to safety was long and fraught, taking them through France and Spain and eventually to Portugal. Visa applications for America and Cuba were turned down and the family narrowly avoided being turned back upon arrival.

Although Portugal was officially neutral, the government of António de Oliveira Salazar was essentially pro-fascist. Nonetheless, Mrs Fluer, who now lives in St John's Wood, north-west London, was well cared for by the family's wartime hosts and had always planned to return to thank them.

After a recent illness, her daughter, Danielle, decided there was no time to waste.

Danielle said: "She always wanted to go back to thank the Portuguese. I said: 'We can't put this off any longer.'"

The Rubin family hailed from Antwerp, which had more than two thirds of its Jewish community deported to Nazi concentration camps during the war. .

Earlier this year Danielle contacted the Portuguese consulate, who put her in touch with the mayor's office in Caldas Da Rainha. The officials organised an impressive reception for the pair's visit last month.

Mrs Fluer was greeted by the mayor, who honoured her with the keys to the city. She gave a speech to the assembled crowd and even sung a Portuguese lullaby. "It brought everyone to tears," said her daughter.

Mrs Fluer said: "When my family and I arrived in Caldas it was a beautiful place and we lived there for a few years in very good conditions.

"I was nearly 16 when the war ended. We went back to Belgium and I lived there until I got married and came to Britain in the 1950s.

"After 71 years I wanted to share my gratitude for how they saved our lives and those of so many others. It was emotional and I really appreciated how they received us."

Her daughter added: "They gave a speech and said how touched they were. They said 'you have come to thank us, however, we would like to thank you because having you come here [during the war] really benefited our country'.

"I had never heard anybody speak so nicely about refugees.We were just blown away."