A FORMER Worcestershire County cricketer has been threatened with deportation to his native Barbados over a technicality.

Fast bowler Hartley Alleyne, aged 50, has been told he faces being kicked out of the UK despite living here since 1978.

Mr Alleyne does not have the NVQ 3 certificate which would allow him to stay in the country on a work permit as a sports coach at a school in Canterbury, Kent.

But now his old Worcestershire club is backing him and has sent a letter to a supporter of Mr Alleyne who is in close contact with Canterbury and Whitstable MP Julian Brazier who is co-ordinating the campaign for him to stay. He was given 28 days grace to remain in the UK on May 25.

Mr Brazier said: "It's monsterous the way he has been treated."

The former paceman still lives at St Edmunds School in Canterbury where he had been teaching the sport to youngsters since 2005 but said he was no longer able to work after being refused the permit.

The married father of three, who has an English wife, said he could not comment on the case while still taking legal advice, although he confirmed that one of the reasons he was being considered for deportation was because he did not have an NVQ and was denied a work permit.

He added: " I have been told not to say anything."

The headmaster of the school, Jeremy Gladwin, said: "The children are shocked by this news and we will find it difficult to replace him as a resident tutor in boarding at such short notice.

"Mr Alleyne is a well-loved figure at St Edmunds and it will be hard to imagine the cricket scene without him.

"I fail to understand why flexibility and sense cannot be applied to such immigration cases. How can someone who has contributed so much to the British cricket scene be treated with such apparent contempt?"

Mr Alleyne started playing at New Road in April 1980, staying at the club for three seasons. He was then a 22-year-old fast bowler and toured with the West Indies XI in the early 1980s.

One of his finest achievements was getting a hat-trick of wickets at the county championship at Lords against Middlesex in July 1981.

Mark Newton, chief executive of Worcestershire County Cricket Club, said: "We became aware of the situation last week and we know that a lot of people are working on his behalf from where he now lives in Kent.

"We have added weight to that support in terms of correspondence and support his application to stay.

"He's a very good ex-player of the club.

"I know, talking to everyone who was around that he was a very well-liked character, by players and supporters and gave the club great service."

A Home Office spokesman said she could not comment on individual cases but added: "We consider that it's reasonable to expect people to return home if they do not have the appropriate entry clearance or do not have leave to be in the UK. The Government has made it clear that it will take a robust approach to removing people from the country where they have no legal right to be here."

The school was unable to comment on his predicament, although one pupil who refused to be named said: "The Home Office's decision is ludicrous. I would like you to raise awareness of this by whichever means possible.

"We would like everybody to contact the Home Office to show them that people care about genuine residents of the UK being threatened."

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