A 'frightened and starving' Latvian man who found himself homeless in Burton with no food or shelter has been helped to return to his home country by compassionate volunteers in the town.

The man, named only as Janis, was thrown a lifeline after members of voluntary group Burton Hope found him hiding in bushes. John Anderson, from Burton Hope, said Janis was frightened, cold, wet and hungry and had not eaten for days.

Members of Burton Hope, a non-profit organisation made up entirely of volunteers, gave him food and warm clothes to help him recover from his ordeal.

Janis has now returned back to Latvia

Janis had been living under a bush after his passport and ID card were stolen and he was unable to work or find a place to live.

After listening to his story, Mr Anderson contacted the Latvian Embassy and found that Janis had to book an appointment in London with the earliest slot four weeks away.

It was then another five weeks before the passport would arrive and the cost was 90 euros. Janis said he would rather go home to Latvia to get a replacement passport and an appeal was set up to support him.

Janis after completing his paperwork so he can return to Latvia

Mr Anderson and fellow volunteer Verna Smith then looked at cheap flights and organised temporary ID papers with the help of a woman called Inga from the Latvian Consulate.

A flight was booked for September 20 and the day before Mr Anderson took Janis for a haircut, a meal at Wetherspoon's and gave him some new clothes ready for him to go home.

Janis tucking in at Wetherspoons before heading back to Latvia

Volunteer Mohammed Nab took Janis to a pre-arranged meeting at the Latvian Consulate where he completed his paperwork before travelling on to Luton Airport.

A spokesman for Burton Hope said: "I do not think there is a member of our great Burton Hope team that will not have a tear in their eye as he has touched our hearts.

"We will all miss Janis but know he intends to return to Burton to work once he gets a replacement passport. He has told us he is joining the group to help others in the same situation as himself.

"Burton Hope not only offers food, clothing etc but also a friendly ear and looks for ways to get these unfortunate folk back into society."

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