TWO gay pals last night paid tribute to England all-rounder Ben Stokes for protecting them in a brawl, insisting: “He’s not homophobic, he’s our hero.”

Prosecutors had claimed the cricket ace acted in an anti-gay manner towards Kai Barry and William O’Connor by flicking cigarette butts at them and mocking their walks.

But after the 27-year-old star was cleared of affray yesterday and recalled to the England Test squad, they rubbished the accusations.

And they maintained married Stokes only stepped in to save them from being attacked by two “bullies”.

Hairdresser Kai, 27, said: “We were attacked only because we were gay. Ben was heroic — thank you Ben!

“We are convinced we would have been beaten up if it wasn’t for Ben. He stood up for us.

“I got bottled and Ben jumped in to defend me. The prosecution said he was homophobic, but we never saw any of that.

“If he didn’t like me, or didn’t worry about me or was taunting me, then he wouldn’t have stuck up for me in the first place.

“We’re delighted that he’s been cleared. He risked his career for us.

“We didn’t want Ben’s career ruined for helping two people who were being attacked.

“Just a week before the case the Crown Prosecution Service said they didn’t want us there. I think police and the CPS ignored that it happened to us because we’re gay.”

They appeared on Good Morning Britain and sent a message to Stokes after saying he had taken a "risk" when coming to their aid.

Kai said: "I'd just like to say thank you for what you did. I'm so sorry it went down like that, I shouldn't have lasted that long in the first place."

And William added: "Thank you as well, it was brilliant what you've done, stuck up for two gay men - you don't really get people out there like that so you definitely did a very good job."

Both Kai and 21-year-old student beautician William gave full statements to officers after video footage of the Bristol punch-up was handed to The Sun last year.

But they were told prosecutors did not want them to give evidence, so their account of how they believe Stokes stepped in to rescue them was never heard by the jury.

They described exactly how the star, cleared at Bristol crown court, selflessly leapt to their rescue.

They said he waded in with his fists during the brawl last September only after they were branded “batty boys” and then attacked with the glass bottle.

Kai and William said they were out drinking in the city’s popular Clifton Triangle when they got chatting to Stokes outside a nightclub called Mbargo.

The pair told how they laughed and joked with the ace about his £695 white Buscemi hi-top trainers while smoking a cigarette at 2am.

William said: “I was chatting to Ben, but I didn’t know it was him at the time. I laughed at his shoes and he laughed too.”

But he and Kai, who describe themselves as openly gay and flamboyant, said they were then targeted with homophobic taunts as they walked away.

Kai said: “The other two defendants Ryan Ali and Ryan Hale walked behind us.

“We then heard a ‘batty boy’ comment. I turned around and confronted them and was hit in the back with a bottle.

“Ben Stokes came across the road to stop it — you can clearly see it on the video.”

The film shows former shopping mall security guard Ali, 28, hitting Kai on the back with a bottle before he was laid out by Stokes. The cricketer also KO’d 27-year-old Afghanistan veteran Hale.

Both Hale and Ali were also cleared of affray by the court.

William said he recalled the moment Ali hit Kai with a bottle in the street and is still shocked.

He said: “It was aggressive. It was out of nowhere. We aren’t boys going out looking for trouble. Ben stood up for us and — after a bit of wrestling — knocked them both out.

“We got out of there because we could have got hurt.”

Kai added: “I thank God every day for Ben being there. God only knows what could have happened if he wasn’t.”

Stokes, who left court yesterday hand-in-hand with wife Clare, 28 — mum to their two children — told the trial he was sticking up for Kai and William. But while his defence is backed up by the pair, they were not asked to give evidence in court.

William went on: “He went out of his way to stick up for two gay boys he didn’t know rather than leave us at the mercy of two people starting on us.

“He stood his ground for us. He stood up for two gay boys and not many people would do that.

“I feel really bad it got this far. If I ever did meet Ben again I would thank him for doing what he did — and apologise for laughing at his trainers.”

The pair rubbished claims from nightclub bouncer Andrew Cunningham that Stokes had been “spiteful” and “bullied” Kai and William during their exchange outside the club. They said footage of Stokes flicking them a cigarette was “harmless banter”.

William said: “From what we experienced, Ben Stokes is not the nasty or homophobic person he was painted as in court. He stood up for two gay boys.

“We were just having banter outside the club. Ben was messing around making gestures, but I have banter with my friends like that.

“The police said he was making hand gestures at me, but I get that a lot and I’m still friends with these sorts of people.

“My friends do it as well, it’s taking the p***, but it’s not like a bad p***, we clearly didn’t take offence to it.

“If it was that bad and he didn’t really like us that much, then he wouldn’t have stuck up for us in the first place.”

The six-day trial had also been told that Stokes was “aggressive” and had “lost control” before hitting Hale.

William said: “On the video it looks aggressive. But he only did it because of the homophobic abuse — and because Kai had been hit with a bottle.

“Ben is a hero for doing what he did. If he wasn’t there, we’d be in hospital.”