A GROUP of Kosovo refugees living in Blackburn could be forcibly deported back to their homeland by the town's MP and Home Secretary Jack Straw.

Refugees who have been refused permission to extend their stay in Blackburn and Darwen have been told that if they don't appeal they have 28 days to leave.

Thirteen council properties in Blackburn and Darwen are occupied by more than 30 Kosovo refugees. All of them applied for extensions to stay in East Lancashire when their one-year permits expired earlier this month.

But Blackburn with Darwen Council revealed today that some of them have had their applications refused. They have the right to appeal although if they don't or are unsuccessful they have 28 days to leave. The four-week period began last week.

The council said it was not known how many individuals had had permission turned down. The Home Office also said it could not give an exact figure because it only collated national figures.

Mr Straw, who has refused to give details of how people would be deported, said: "Enforcement action will be taken in due course against those who are unwilling to go back voluntarily." The remaining refugees were among 138 people who arrived in Blackburn last June.

The 17 remaining refugees in Burnley are still waiting for answers to applications. Basil Dearing, a senior partner with Steele, Ford and Newton, Burnley, which represents the Kosovars living on the Griffin estate, said: "They have been granted leave to remain in the UK by the Home Office. The situation is reviewed periodically in light of the conditions in Kosovo as reported to the Home Office by the United Nations. Effectively it means that when the UN are satisfied that their own particular village and situation is safe they would be expected to return subject to any right of appeal they might have.

"If the UN don't believe it to be safe for them to return they will be allowed to remain a while longer."

Tomorrow the deadline for most of them to return runs out.