A SUGGESTION made in The Times that the former Pontins site at Middleton could be turned into a base for Kosovan war refugees was cautiously welcomed by council leader Stanley Henig this week.

So far the idea has only been suggested by the national paper - no sites will be considered by the Home Office until the Government agrees to house the refugees in the first place.

But the site was regarded as a potential new prison by the Home Office for a long time and is currently unused.

Said Cllr Henig: "We haven't been contacted by the Home Office but we aware of these suggestions. We are also aware that the site is privately owned but I can say that we are very concerned about the plight of these people and would like to help them in any way we can.

"We would obviously do whatever we could for these people."

Middleton villager Barbara Williams who campaigned to prevent the prison being built also welcomed the plans. She said: "My husband's a big strong man and even he cried about what's going on there last week. I think people would be surprised about how much we would do to help them here in Middleton. It's a small world now and it would only be temporary measure anyway."

Two Lancaster brothers serving with the Kings Own Royal Border Regiment are currently based in Macedonia, just eight miles form the Kosovo crisis.

Jason Townson, 27, who drives a Warrior fighting vehicle, called home last week to reassure his wife Tracey and their two-year-old daughter Amy that he was in fine spirits despite the increase in tension in the area.

Jason and his brother Craig are part of a NATO extraction force and will return home in June.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.