A DAD who moved to the UK aged six months has been banned from working and could face deportation because the Home Office cannot find his records.

Nelson father-of-six Darren Harrety was given the bombshell news despite having got married, bought a house, worked and even voted in the UK.

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He was born in the British colony of Punta Gorda in Belize, Central America, in March 1982, six months after the country was granted independence.

When he was a baby, his mum Angelica Harrety travelled to England with him and his siblings on a Belize passport, issued to replace her British one when the country gained independence, which was stamped with indefinite leave to stay in the UK.

But that passport was lost in the move, and now Darren, 34, of Wickworth Street, has been told he cannot work or apply to be a British citizen because the Home Office are unable to find proof of his arrival into the country.

Darren said: “I have been working all my life and I just want to be able to provide for my family, as I was doing before all this happened.

“I want my life back. I have skills and I want to be able to put them to use.

“In my eyes I have been living in England all my life and I am British. I don’t think I should have to pay to become British.

“It is terrifying to think people could just come through the door and tell me I have to leave the country.

“We are scared and don’t know what to do. It feels like no one will help me.”

Darren’s mum, then Angelica Kyte-Powell, came to the UK with the help of the SSAFA military charity in 1982 after her husband, ex-British soldier Roy Kyte-Powell, was shot dead in Belize.

She remarried Darren’s stepdad Ray Harrety, with Darren, his brother and sister changing their surname to reflect this, and the family settled in Hartlepool.

Darren never had his own passport or driving licence but using his birth certificate as identification he was able to vote, get married, hold bank accounts, work and even buy his own home aged 20.

But five years ago Darren, who previously worked at a DIY store and as a window cleaner, had his employment terminated two weeks into a new job in merchandising.

The company told him he was not legally allowed to work in the UK and Darren claims the Home Office told him they were unable to find any details of him entering the country.

Darren, who wants a UK passport, said he has been told his applications for British nationality have failed because there is not enough evidence he is a British citizen, despite his birth certificate being stamped by the British Embassy.

However he also cannot apply for a Belize passport.

Darren, who lives with wife nursery nurse Kathryn, 28, and children one-year-old Nevaeh, Corbin, two, Joshua, seven, and Branden, eight, dreams of working as a handyman or painter and decorator.

He said: “I was six-months-old when we came over and I have been to nursery, school and college.

“I have a national insurance number and the ability to vote in this country.

“I have worked, bought a house, been legally married, had bank accounts and NHS treatment.

“But apparently I cannot work because I need my papers, which have been lost, and all because I was born six months after Belize became independent.

“The Home Office say they can’t find any details of my arrival in this country.

Darren, who also has two children from previous relationships, 10-year-old Ebony Robinson and Daniel Berry, 15, has now launched a petition and crowd-funding appeal.

His MP Andrew Stephenson said in a letter dated June 2014 he was ‘disappointed’ with the lack of progress in Darren’s case.

In it, the Conservative MP for Pendle, said: “There is the potential now for you, Darren, to be detained if picked up by the police or Home Office.”

A Home Office spokesman said: “Mr Harrety was born in Belize, after independence was granted, to parents who were both Belize citizens. He has no automatic right to British citizenship.

“However, it does remain open to him to make an application to regularise his stay in the UK.”

To support Darren’s petition, which has nearly 1,200 supporters, go to www.change.org/p/home-office-support-darren-harrety and to donate to a fund for his legal fees visit www.gofundme.com/be6rjmp8.