AN MP has pleaded with the public to welcome Afghan refugees with their arrival in South Lakeland 'imminent'.

Tim Farron said 'we have to find a way of helping these people' and asked residents of the district to put themselves in the position of a person fleeing a war-torn country.

"None of us has been forced at gunpoint to keep our wives in the house and stop our daughters from going to school," he said.

"None of us has been threatened with being beheaded."

Mr Farron was speaking following a meeting with the South Lakeland Equality and Diversity Partnership, which has representation from the public, private and third sectors, to discuss the issues facing refugees and the Government's policies towards them.

The Westmorland and Lonsdale MP invoked the spirit of the Windermere Children when talking to The Westmorland Gazette. The Windermere Children were a group of 300 youngsters who were brought to happier lives in Cumbria from the horrors of the Holocaust in 1945.

"In a sense that speaks very much of the kind of community that we are here, and we are proud that we can provide that welcome, that sanctuary for people who are desperate," he said.

"We are talking about 10 or 20 people here [Afghan refugees in South Lakeland]."

The story of the Windermere Children is well known, with the Duchess of Cambridge speaking to two of the surviving orphans on a trip to the Lake District last week.

Trevor Avery, director of The Lake District Holocaust Project, a charity dedicated to telling the children's story, said: "We have a tradition of being welcoming.

"It's challenging [accepting refugees] and, unfortunately, a lot of people want to take the easy option, which is to blame somebody for their ills.

"There must be somebody to blame.

"And, unfortunately, the first target is generally refugees and those who they perceive as not fitting in."

Mr Avery said the country would reap the rewards of investing in and supporting refugees.

"These people want to succeed, they want to contribute," he said.

"They become incredibly grateful to the community that's accepted them and they will give back in more ways than you can imagine."

Mr Farron referred to the large numbers of homeless people for whom accommodation was found when the pandemic took hold and said it was a 'reminder - when we absolutely have to do something, we can do it'.

The MP said the arrival of refugees in the district was imminent.