UK couple who rescued Ukrainian relatives stuck in France after being turned away at border

Couple were refused entry to UK because they did not have a visa

A couple who rescued family members fleeing Ukraine are having to spend €200 a day to stay in a French hotel after being turned away at the UK border.

Steve Billington and his Ukrainian wife Iryna Shyhera drove to Opole in Poland to rescue his brother-in-law’s wife and their two young children, who managed to escape the conflict.

Bohdana Shyhera and, Solomiia, aged three, and Pavlo, 13, left their home in a village outside Lviv in western Ukraine after Russia invaded. Their father has been forced to stay and fight.

Mr Billington and his wife drove to Calais in France after collecting the escaped family in the hope of catching a ferry to the UK, but were refused entry because they did not have a visa.

They are now holed up in Hostellerie Saint Vincent in the town of Beauvais around 55 miles outside Paris while waiting for their travel documents, which is costing them around €200 per day.

Home secretary Priti Patel has announced that from Tuesday Ukrainian refugees can obtain visas to come to the UK without having to visit an application centre in Europe.

But Mr Billington said the reality was not that simple.

Mr Billington, 58, said: “I’m not going to put them through that again after what happened last week.

“I thought you were just going to be able to turn up at the border on Tuesday - I even booked a Euro Tunnel crossing.

“But they are saying you need some form of approval from the Home Office.”

Mr Billington was initially told to drive to Brussels where the family would “get their visas in under 24 hours.”

He pleaded with border control officers to let them through, but they threatened to have them forcefully removed by French police and said they would not be able to enter in the future.

Mr Billington, from Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire said: “The situation is, we’re stuck in a hotel about 50 miles from Paris and it’s costing me and my wife around €200 a day.

“It seems like Priti Patel made this announcement without checking with people on the ground who are saying no you can’t do that.

“So we still need to go to the visa centre in Paris to hand over their passports and have their finger prints taken.

“We’re probably going to be here for another week.”

A government spokesperson said: “Last week we announced a new sponsorship route which will allow Ukrainians with no family ties to the UK to be sponsored to come to the UK.

“This is alongside our Ukraine Family Scheme, which has already seen thousands of people apply, as well as changes to visas so that people can stay in the UK safely.

“The routes we have put in place follow extensive engagement with Ukrainian partners. This is a rapidly moving and complex picture and as the situation develops, we will continue to keep our support under constant review.”