Only around 14 visas have been granted to Ukrainians after being sponsored by people in Watford, new data shows.

The ‘Homes for Ukraine’ scheme grants Ukrainian families a visa to come to the UK if they have a sponsor.

New provisional figures from the Home Office says that in Watford, just 14 visas were issued where the sponsors are based in Watford.

Not all records have a postcode that has been mapped to a local authority area, but the number of records excluded is less than 1 per cent.

The data does not contain the number of visas issued through the Ukraine Family Scheme, which allows applicants to join family members or extend their stay in the UK.

Home Secretary Priti Patel has apologised for the delay it is taking for Ukrainian refugees to arrive in the UK.

Around 12,000 people had arrived in the UK under the two Ukraine visa schemes as of Tuesday, according to Home Office figures.

But councils are seeing a “concerning increase” in refugees becoming homeless due to relationship breakdowns with their sponsors and problems accessing accommodation.

Some local authorities are having to put families in emergency accommodation while they wait to find a new sponsor.

In a survey published last week, the Local Government Association said 57 councils have been approached by a total of 144 Ukrainian households who have become homeless after arriving under both schemes.