Cricketer's deportation reprieve

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/england/7177056.stm

Version 0 of 1.

A former West Indian cricketer facing deportation despite living in the UK for 29 years has been given permission to reside for another three years.

Fast bowler Hartley Alleyne, 50, played for Barbados, Worcestershire, Kent and Natal from 1978 to 1990 before coaching youngsters in Canterbury, Kent.

The ex-cricketer said the decision to allow him to stay in the UK was "like winning the Lotto".

The Home Office said it would not comment on individual cases.

It has been a very long, hard slog which has been dragging on for some eight months Hartley Alleyne

Mr Alleyne had previously been told he would be deported after gaining a coaching qualification which he thought would get him a work permit.

Mr Alleyne said: "It has been a very long, hard slog which has been dragging on for some eight months.

"But I'm glad common-sense has at last prevailed and I cannot thank enough all the people, both locally and across the country, including Mr Brazier [his MP], for their help.

"It has been a weight lifted from my shoulders and I look forward to spending many more years living in this country."

'Tolerable result'

He applied for a permit in 2005 when he began working as a sports coach and resident boarding assistant at St Edmund's School, Canterbury.

But his application was turned down because he did not hold an NVQ Level 3 certificate.

He later obtained the qualification in sports coaching to satisfy the Home Office but then learned that his appeal for a work permit had been rejected.

Mr Alleyne has lived in the UK since 1978 and has an English wife and two young children in Liverpool, as well as a grown-up daughter in London.

Julian Brazier, the Conservative MP for Canterbury, cautiously welcomed the Home Office's decision.

"This is a tolerable result - obviously it would have been better if Hartley had been given permission to remain here permanently - but he now has a strong chance of eventually gaining the full citizenship that he deserves."