Controversial speaker Katie Hopkins has said she is “relentlessly positive and optimistic” after a venue cancelled her event in the New Forest.

The former columnist said she is determined to come to the New Forest after Lyndhurst Community Centre said her ‘Speakeasy’ event “was not an event which we wished to host”.

Ms Hopkins was due to speak at an event organised by the New Forest Freedom Community on October 26 in a gathering described as “the perfect place to think, speak and laugh freely”.

But the community centre cancelled the event when it discovered Ms Hopkins was the guest speaker.

In March this year, Ms Hopkins' stand-up show at The Attic Southampton was cancelled after bands and acts due to perform at the venue in Winsor Road, Totton, pulled their shows as a sign of protest.

'I am unstoppable'

The 48-year-old said she is committed to holding an event in the area.

She said: “I remain relentlessly positive and optimistic because I am unstoppable. I will come to the New Forest.

“I may even get to Lyndhurst. I will find venues. And for every venue that cancels, two more say, you know what, Katie? We'll back you, and they don't have to.

“I’m not asking for agreement,  I am not asking for support. I am asking for people to be given the freedom of choice to attend.”

'People don't accord me the respect of giving me a call'

Ms Hopkins told the Echo that she was not contacted by the venue when her event was cancelled.

She said: “What do they know about my show and what do they know about me? Would it be nice if they could ring me and ask what my show is about? If they had asked me?”

She added: “People don't accord me the respect of giving me a call and telling me they have cancelled because people who consider themselves to be the arbiters of what others are allowed to listen, consider themselves to be somehow on a higher moral plane.”

She said she was open to being contacted by the venue so that she could “explain my show to them”.

She added: “I will come and perform my show for the Lyndhurst Community Center booker in person, that is my offer.”

The event, organised by the New Forest Freedom Community, referred to Ms Hopkins as a "Special Guest Speaker" and did not use her name.

Asked about this, Ms Hopkins told the Echo her "preferred approach" is to let people know she is the speaker.