THE first Syrian refugee families to be housed in Lancashire via a new programme are expected to arrive at the end of next month.

County Council leader Jennifer Mein said Pendle would be one of four boroughs resettling 30 refugee families fleeing Islamic State as part of the Syrian Resettlement Programme in the Autumn.

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The borough is set to welcome around seven or eight families.

Both Burnley and Pendle came to an agreement in February with Lancashire County Council to house the families as part of a nationwide drive for new homes.

Burnley is expected to welcome a number of refugees at a later date.

Cllr Mein said that although it had taken a long time to get to this stage, the county was looking forward to giving those in need a new home.

She said: “Councils from across Lancashire have come together to offer support to vulnerable families forced to flee their homes in Syria in what is one of the largest and most serious humanitarian crises facing the world today.

“Lancashire is rightly known as a friendly county and we have a proud tradition of welcoming people from other parts of the world.

“Together with our partners from other councils, from health services and other organisations, including faith and community groups, we have been working hard to put in place the necessary accommodation and support that these families will need.

“We have pledged to help 150 families over the next five years, which seems a proportionate number given our total population of nearly 1.5 million people, and look forward to giving a warm welcome to the first 30 families.”

The other areas taking on the refugees will be South Ribble, Preston and Blackpool.

The programme has been drawn up to help Syrian nationals trying to flee a country’s civil war and terror organisation ISIS for Europe.

Blackburn with Darwen Council is not part of the same programme but currently homes 350 refugees of various nationalities on a one-in-one-out basis.

Sayyed Osman, director for Localities and Prevention at Blackburn with Darwen Council, said: “The announcement by Lancashire County Council this morning does include or affect Blackburn’s current arrangements.

Hyndburn, Ribble Valley and Rossendale councils have not yet been told how many refugees they will be asked to take but have all expressed an interest in the scheme.