THE Dean of Blackburn's son has fled Indonesia in fear after discovering alleged corruption involving tsunami charity cash raised in East Lancashire.

Johnathan Armstrong received threats after a row with two of the New Life for Lokna appeal signatories helping to distribute cash in the Aceh region.

Johnathan, who flew into Manchester with wife Nyanyak and sons Adam and Toby, said the situation in the village had become so "scary" that he felt forced to pack up and get out.

The Dean, the Very Rev Christopher Armstrong, called on Blackburn MP and Foreign Secretary Jack Straw for help in securing visas and temporary resident permits so Johnathan could bring his wife and sons with him.

The appeal, which has raised £40,000, was launched after Nyanyak lost 40 members of her extended family when the tsunami struck Indonesia on Boxing Day 2004.

Johnathan, 26, said an argument had flared after he discovered two signatories had given their families and friends priority when allocating cash.

He added: "It has been a very emotional and pressurised two weeks.

"The people who have been helped through our work are very angry with those who we feel have forced us out.

"Money from the appeal had been earmarked to build businesses for those who had lost their livelihoods in the tsunami on a needs most' basis.

"An argument broke out as the New Life for Lokna's representative in Lokna I felt a responsibility to ensure that the money raised by the people of East Lancashire went to those who needed it the most. But things operate very differently in Banda Aceh than in the UK.

"I was made to feel like an outsider without any protection from the police or from any big umbrella organisation such as Oxfam or the United Nations.

"These two signatories played on my isolation and made it very clear that as locals they were calling the shots. It did get pretty scary.

"I went to Lokna on my own to help people from Nyanyak's village who had lost everything and the situation became too hair raising for us to stay.

"They threatened to get me deported and if that happened not only would Nyanyak be left behind as she doesn't have a British passport, but I would be blacklisted and could not return to the country for 12 months."