The grandparents of Kerry Page - who could face up to 25 years in a Kenyan prison - have collected more than 1,000 names for a petition to bring her home.

Her mother has also revealed she is struggling financially to meet the soaring cost of keeping in touch with Kerry on bail thousands of miles from home. She has run up phone bills of over £1,000 and has been forced to cut down on phone calls.

Geoff and Dorothy Greenhough, aged 64 and 70 respectively, of Holdsworth Street, Cleckheaton, have been asking shoppers at the Tesco store in their home town to sign the petition.

Retired mill worker Mr Greenhough said: "We've collected 1,260 signatures so far which is a good response, considering we only started two weeks ago and we haven't been going every single day.

"We are going to continue going to the supermarket for a few hours each day to get as many names as we can. We haven't set a target."

The petition was launched by 29-year-old Kerry's mother Elaine Garnham, of Old Popplewell Lane, Scholes, to persuade the Foreign Office to put pressure on the Kenyan authorities to return her daughter's passport.

The mother-of-six said: "Kerry is very bored and frustrated at being stuck in her flat with nothing to do and not being able to work. It is costing her a lot of money to be out there and her savings are running out fast.

"I've had to cut down on the phone calls to her to twice a week because we just can't afford it. The phone bill was more than £600 this time and about £700 in the last quarter."

She is planning to take the petition to the Foreign Office in London before April 18, with the help of Batley and Spen MP Mike Wood who is supporting the family's fight.

Kerry, who was struck down by malaria last month but has now recovered, is on bail in Nairobi awaiting trial on May 18 on charges of theft and handling stolen United Nations goods.

The UN alleges she helped an Australian catering company she worked for as a buyer steal forklift trucks, vehicles and containers worth £200,000 during the refugee crisis in Somalia three years ago.

Kerry vehemently denies the charges and believes she is the innocent victim of a political row. She was granted compassionate leave earlier this year to visit her family.

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