A REFUGEE who fled the Balkans in fear for his life 11 years ago has been denied his first return home since –- because he could not spell his name in English.

Kujtim Hoxha, an ethnic Albanian, and his wife, Vjollca, abandoned their lives and possessions in Shtime, now part of Kosovo, in 2000 to escape Serbian persecution.

Mr Hoxha had already been blinded in one eye by a roadside bomb. His farm was later burnt to the ground.

Having lived ever since in Felling, Gateshead, they both gained British citizenship.

They had hoped to fly home on Thursday to visit relatives including their daughter, who they have not seen in more than a decade, and grandchildren, some of whom they have never seen.

But when Mr Hoxha, 76, applied for a passport, his faceto- face interview, at Durham City’s passport office, was abandoned as he could not spell his name in English.

Relatives offered to translate, but officials refused and called off the interview, saying he must attend another appointment in Edinburgh, Leicester or Liverpool.

That meant postponing his flight and, today, making a 360-mile round-trip to Leicester – together costing about £250.

His nephew, Elton Hoxha, 27, said: “He’s not happy at all. He’s been treated very unfairly.

“What’s the point of making someone go 180 miles for a ten-minute interview? He was under a lot of pressure.”

In a statement, an Identity and Passport Service (IPS) spokesman said: “Our Durham office does not have interpreter facilities and customers requiring that service will be offered an appointment at one of our 13 other offices which do have that facility.

“When an interview needs to be conducted in a language other than English or Welsh, IPS employs its own skilled interpreters to ensure the questions asked and answers received are the applicant’s own responses and have been accurately translated.”

Mrs Hoxha gained her passport and flew to Kosovo on Thursday.

Should today’s interview go well and Mr Hoxha obtains a passport, he hopes to join her on September 8.