PLANS for big-hearted Ledbury people to make regular mercy runs this winter to the refugee camps in France have been put on hold, because only groups approved by the French authorities are being allowed in at present.

The Ledbury helpers are viewed as "independents", and the gates to the camps are currently barred to them.

Ledbury Refugee Support announced in November that runs to the Calais and Dunkirk camps would become a regular thing, because of fears that refugees could die in those camps, where fires are breaking out in candlelit tents and where there have been serious incidents of disease, including tuberculosis and scabies, according to a recent Canadian report.

Ledbury group members, Natalie Penny of Challenger Close, and her partner Doug Tolson, spent five days helping out at the camps in November, and the group planned another mercy run in December.

But this has not happened, because of the changing medical and legal picture in France.

Natalie said: "We were unable to go over this month due to the new local French law passed which put a stop to any independents entering the camps with aid."

Some charities are approved for access by the French, and Ledbury Refugee Support is now looking into the possibility of gaining access to the camps by working with French-approved charities, such as Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF).

Ledbury Refugee Support understands that the Mayor of Dunkirk wants to move the existing camps, where conditions are increasingly squalid and inadequate, and the new camps will be under the care of MSF.

Ledbury Refugee Support spokesman, Jan Long said:

"Ever increasing numbers in Dunkirk, now at approx two and half thousand poor souls, with over 200 children, is a real hazard and disease has broken out.

"The mayor is trying to relocate people- he really does not want - and I quote - 'anyone dying on my land'."

Extra toilets are now being installed by the French authorities, but that still works out as only one toilet per 80 refugees.

Mrs Long said: "God bless the volunteers who spent their Christmas helping people, and although the weather is not freezing, the rain is perhaps worse, as there is now a sea of mud.

"Let us hope 2016 will see some relief for those so less fortunate than ourselves."

Meanwhile, the response in the Ledbury area towards the plight of the refugees continues to be generous.

Mrs Long said: "I have just been into the community shop at Bromsberrow, to find more donations of baby clothes and other items, and an almost full collection tin."

Ledbury Refugee Support can be contacted on, 07973 401860.