SUPPORTERS of plans to to bring refugees to the Malvern area said this week to Malvern Hills District Council: "We're not going away".

Some 200 members of Malvern Welcomes Syrian Refugees assembled outside Great Malvern Priory on Monday evening, before walking in procession down Church Street to the district council headquarters at Avenue Road.

The marchers, who included children, the elderly, students and members of several religious groups, carried banners emblazoned with the message Refugees Welcome as they walked.

They carried a wreath of snowflakes in memory of six children who froze to death in refugee camps bordering Syria last winter.

They also carried a petition signed by 1,200 local people which they presented to Cllr Melanie Baker, housing portfolio holder at the district council. A copy has already been presented to Worcestershire County Council.

Ruth Forecast of the group said: "We are delighted that there has been such an impressive turnout.

"However, we are not surprised, as we know that people in Malvern care deeply about the suffering of their brothers and sisters in less peaceful parts of the world and are dismayed that so far we have not given sanctuary to a single refugee during this ever-worsening crisis.

"Our message to the council is simple. The people of Worcestershire want to help and it is time you started to listen. We are not going away."

The march attracted the attention of Channel Four News, and an item about it was broadcast later the same evening.

The campaigners have been pressing for more than a year to bring a small number of Syrian refugee families to the Malvern area. The proposal was initially welcomed by the district council, but since then there have been concerns about funding for the scheme.

Worcestershire County Council, and the county's district councils have indicated they will support the scheme, as long as central government comes up with funding for five years.

But the campaigners fear that if the funding isn't forthcoming, the councils will back out.

Cllr Baker said: "We are continuing to press for information about the funding, and the Local Government Association are pushing for it as well, because we're not the only council in this position. We're asking on a daily basis.

"We have a moral duty to do our part to help victims of the refugee crisis, but we also have a duty to our own residents, especially in a situation where local governments are being squeezed financially and facing further financial constraints in the future."