CRAVEN is perfectly placed to accept refugee families from Syria, councillors have agreed.

Its closeness to Bradford, where a Syrian community already exists, and warm and welcoming people made it a good fit for North Yorkshire's pilot scheme, Craven District Council's policy committee decided.

Councillors agreed to provide homes for up to 25 refugees during the next five years – and, in addition, to look at Craven's ability to welcome even more.

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The families will be housed in Skipton or South Craven because of the large housing stock, available school places, range of facilities and easy links to Bradford.

Judy Rogers, of the Craven Refugee Support Network, told the meeting a warm welcome would be extended to the families.

She said groups in Skipton, Bentham and Upper Wharfedale are already geared up to offer help and support.

Up to 30 refugees already living in Bradford will spend the weekend in Craven in March, staying with host families and taken on trips, including to Skipton Castle. And there would even be a ceilidh, she revealed.

"There is a swathe of enthusiasm and a lot of people out there who will willingly give up their free time to help these people integrate into our country, " she added.

Cllr Robert Heseltine (Ind) said he would like to see Craven take more than the 25 refugees put forward as part of the North Yorkshire scheme.

But council leader, Cllr Richard Foster (Cons), said although he agreed with him, other districts had also committed to taking some of the 20,000 so far agreed by the Government.

And until the Government changed the number it was willing to accept, Craven did not need to take any more.

It was agreed, however, that chief executive, Paul Shevlin, should look into the capacity of Craven to take more refugees, if the situation arose.

Craven will be chiefly involved in finding suitable accommodation for the refugees, with education and health services the responsibility of North Yorkshire County Council.

It is planned that the families will arrive in the summer, providing housing and services are in place.

Craven will receive a Government grant to cover costs for the first year – expected to be about £8,500 per person – to be shared with the county council.