A LEUKAEMIA sufferer from Kosovo who fled his war-torn homeland has been told he must return after Home Office bosses rejected his plea to stay.

Now crippled Tahir Krasniqi, 62, and his wife Azize, 60, have been left without any money, heat, light or electricity after their benefit handouts were cut off following the decision.

They have now enlisted a solicitor to fight any removal notice served upon them by the Home Office but they cannot officially appeal until the notice arrives.

Their solicitor Michael Singleton says the immense immigration pressure the Home Office is under could mean it is many months until the couple can begin to fight to stay in Britain.

He said: "There are many more Kosovars in Blackburn in a similar predicament. This is a real launch in the welfare benefits system."

The couple's son Hajra -- who fled Kosovo with his parents and his own family of wife and two children in 1999 and has also been ordered home -- fears they will all die if they are sent back.

Immigration officials have twice refused permission for them to stay. Hajra, his wife and three children have lived in Blackburn since fleeing Kosovo after Serbia invaded

the country in 1999.

They were granted a 12 month residency in Britain after they were evacuated as part of the UN operations in the region. They were entitled to continue claiming benefits until they were were officially refused permission to stay in the UK.

Hajra's parents are now dependant on him. He also has to support his family -- plus another child born in the UK -- on child benefit, which he will continue to receive to make sure the children are looked after. He is allowed to work until his notice to quit the UK is serviced but has not been able to find work.

Hajra said: "I am very scared what will happen to my father and mother if we all have to go back. My father has leukaemia and it is being treated here.

"But there are no facilities in Kosovo to support them. If you want to survive the disease in Kosovo, you get sent elsewhere in Europe for help.

"My mother is also very ill. They have no heat, light, electricity or gas. It is getting cold."

The family fled after Slobodan Milosevic's Serbian troops marched on Kosovo. They joined hundreds of thousands of displaced Kosovars who were accommodated in massive camps just over the border.

They were later transferred to a welcome reception centre at Calderstones in the Ribble Valley before being placed in Shadsworth House, a former OAP home.

From there, the elderly couple were placed in a sparsely-decorated flat, while Hajra and his family moved to a different house nearby.

Hajra's three brothers have all fought for the Kosovar army. He fears that if they are forced to return to the village of Vushtrri, just four miles from a Serbian village, they will be killed.

He returned to Kosovo with a view to moving back under the KFOR Explore and Prepare programme.

He said: "We had everything when we were there, a nice home, jobs, everything. They took it all away and when I returned it had all gone. There was nothing left of our home.

"Serbs live nearby. We would not be safe and I fear my parents would die if they did not receive the medical treatment they get here."

Letters presented to appeal ajudicators from doctors stated Mr Krasniqi needs regular medical treatment to keep his lymphocytic leukaemia under control.

Mr Singleton has warned the family to expect to receive notice of removal from the Home Office within the next two months -- although it could be longer if the Home Office does not speed up immigration procedures.