A MOTHER-TO-BE has finally been reunited with her Turkish husband after he was allowed into the UK.

Elisa Aktas, 24, had not seen husband Murat - known as Chris - since October.

The 27-year-old former waiter from Izmir was twice refused entry to Britain, despite having a job and home in Darlington and his wife being pregnant. But last night all that was forgotten as the couple, who met two years ago in Turkey, settled down to life together on the Firthmoor estate.

"It was weird but so nice to see him at the airport," said Mrs Aktas, a care assistant, who is due to give birth in June. "It was actually believing that he was in England which was so hard. I had got to the point where I didn't think he would ever get here."

Mr Aktas was initially refused entry by the British Consulate in Istanbul on the grounds that he could not support himself or his dependants. His wife then found him two jobs and was given a council house by Darlington Borough Council.

But his second visa application was also turned down. The couple were unable to see each other because Mrs Aktas was under doctor's orders not to fly.

The couple, with the help of Mark Fabb, from Firthmoor Association for Community Enterprise, appealed against the visa decision and won.

Mr Fabb said: "I am delighted he is here because it has taken a lot of stress off Lisa. But I am disgusted at the way they were treated. I cannot understand why it took so long from him to be allowed into the country."

Mr Aktas, who had never been to Britain before, said he was enjoying life here, des-pite the weather.

"It is early days, so it is hard to say how I feel," he said. "Everything is different to Turkey, but home is here now, with Elisa. The weather is a lot colder here but it doesn't matter to me. My family here are so nice and people here are being really nice to me. I'm just happy we are back together."