REFUGEES and asylum seekers fleeing their homes in search of a better life in Britain may not be an issue that directly concerns many people living in Watford.

But on top of the town's 80,000 inhabitants, there is a hidden population living on the streets or crammed into multi-occupancy homes, desperate to escape poverty.

Lawrie Coe, the honorary secretary of the Watford and Three Rivers Refugee Project (WTRRP), can't put a number on exactly how many there are.

He said: "No figure would be anywhere near right. There are 400,000 in the country, of different descriptions. They seek asylum from trouble in their own country. They do not return because of what they fear awaits them.

"These are quite normal people. They're not criminals or prostitutes. They're often educated and just want to survive."

Since WTRRP began in mid-2003, it has handled 45 cases of refugees, people granted permission to stay and work in Britain, and failed asylum seekers, involving 87 people - including 37 children - from 14 countries, such as Uganda, Somalia, Iraq and Zimbabwe.

Organisations such as Watford Housing Advice, the Citizens Advice Bureau and the Watford Women's Centre refer cases to WTRRP. Last year, it took five homeless women off the streets, two of whom were nursing babies, one was in the late stages of pregnancy and one needed food and shelter with her seven-year-old daughter.

Lawrie, 80, from Follett Drive, Abbots Langley, says the trend has changed since WTRRP began, as to the type of people they help.

He said: "Five years ago it was people arriving in this country. They needed bedding and food. The people we're getting now are mostly failed asylum seekers who get in serious distress. They're homeless and penniless. They're not allowed to work and not given anything. They are at rock bottom poverty.

"They are scared, they are really afraid. It's common that the regime or state of a country is so bad it's not safe to bring up a family. That's why they're not going to go back.

"We're a very small group, funded mostly by local churches, and all we can do is help by providing food vouchers or nappies for babies.

"We just want to help people who need a helping hand. If people are starving, we're not going to let them carry on starving. If people are homeless and hungry, we're not going to let them sleep out in Cassiobury Park."

For more information about WTRRP, to offer accommodation or a donation, telephone Lawrie on 01923 674460.