Hundreds of Britons stranded overseas appeal for more help

Hundreds of Britons are stranded in foreign countries due to the coronavirus pandemic as the UK government is facing calls to do more.

As the virus outbreak has spread across the world, more and more countries have gone into lockdown - leaving British citizens struggling to get home.

In India, 90 Britons are trapped in a city in Punjab where they fear police violence, while more say they are being held in filthy isolation rooms in the Kochi area.

Others overseas include an NHS nurse in Cambodia, who issued a tearful appeal to Borisjohnson,andateacher in Peru - one of hundreds of UK citizens in the South American country.

Answering questions in the House of Commons yesterday, the Prime Minister said there was a “massive, massive repatriation effort going on”.

Brian Sangha, a local councillor for Gravesham in Kent, is one of 90 British citizens stranded in and around the city of Jalandhar.

Mr Sangha, 72, says three-quarters of the UK group are over the age of 65, many of whom would be considered at high risk from the virus. He said: “People are feeling that we have been forgotten by our Government. My one message to the Prime Minister would be stop the bureaucracy, move into action mode.”

Mr Sangha, who is a grandfather, said: “Everyone is being told stay indoors and if you venture out the police are in the streets in numbers.”

Many of his group are fearful of the local police, who are reportedly using canes to force people back into their homes if they go out.

Meanwhile, families of a group of elderly British nationals who are being held in n Kochi have written a letter to the Foreign Secretary.