AN emotional plea from a town councillor called for more to be done to help unaccompanied child refugees from Syria.

Speaking at Ross-on-Wye Town Council on Monday night, Chris Bartrum asked for councillors to support a letter to be sent to their MP asking for more to be done to help.

In February, the government announced it was going to resettle 350 Syrian children in the UK, thousands short of the figure suggested by government sources last year.

Cllr Bartrum said: "Can we do whatever we can to help these kids? I have got kids and I have got grandkids. If you help people, maybe one day, they will help us. It is common humanity. These unaccompanied kids who have seen their parents blown up."

He said that people question why Arab countries cannot take "their own people", but he said they have already helped so many.

Cllr Bartrum added: "We have all seen these stories that kids are not kids but just look at one newsreel and you can see Syria is being destroyed."

Cllr Jenny Hyde, who supports the council cabinet member for Young People and Children's Wellbeing, said: "I can assure everybody here we are committed and doing our best. We have got a lot of unaccompanied children coming into Herefordshire. The council is already purchasing suitable properties for communal houses and things like that.

"We have our families coming in from Syria- some are already here. We are expecting another 20 children this month."

She said Herefordshire is not always suitable for unaccompanied teenagers as it is very quiet.

Cllr Hyde added: "It is very difficult. For anyone to say we are not doing what we can. The pressure on Herefordshire finding foster homes. We are struggling for our own children. It is a massive problem."

But chairman of the council, David Ravenscroft, said Cllr Bartrum was not criticising Herefordshire Council.

Councillors agreed to send a letter to MP Jesse Norman asking what can be done to help the situation.