Kind-hearted Keighley people are being urged to help provide vital aid to thousands of Kosovan people who are fleeing their strife-torn country.

Keith Bell, a member of the Cambridge-based Friendship Link, is calling for soap, tents, food and plastic buckets to help fill the next over-land consignment to northern Albania being organised by the charity.

Two eight-ton lorry loads of relief - blankets, food, tents and even money - set off last Thursday from Cambridge bound for Albania and the border of Kosovo and Montenegro.

Mr Bell, advice officer at Keighley Disabled People's Council, has close ties with northern Albania where Kosovans have sought refuge from Serbian forces. Yesterday the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe reported that the main border crossing from Kosovo to Albania had been closed but thousands of people have already escaped into the country.

Mr Bell, who spent time in Albania in the mid-1990s offering advice about helping disabled people, said: "My heart bleeds for the people.

"I first came into contact with Kosovan Albanians when I was in the north near to where they are crossing now.

"I met a Kosovan man who had moved to Albania because even then he was not happy with the situation.

"This mass exodus is going to put a great strain on Albania which is the poorest country in Europe. Its resources are outstretched in normal times, especially in the medical field.

"I visited a number of hospitals and some were still using equipment from the 1940s."

Leslie Wooler, director of Friendship Link, said: "The people are desperate for many things including soap because they have nothing to clean themselves with after the long escape.

"We've already had a tremendous response from Keighley people and are looking forward to their continuing support."

Anyone wanting to contribute aid should contact Mr Bell on Keighley 01535 606700 or contact him at Keighley Disabled People's Centre in Temple Row, Keighley.

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