Gran's deportation anguish is over

Miss Martin celebrating with her family

A US-born grandmother threatened with deportation after nearly 54 years in the UK is being allowed to stay in the country.

Mary Martin, 55, of Trimley St Mary, Suffolk, had been ordered to leave on Thursday because she is not a British citizen.

She heard live on the BBC's The Morning Show that she would be allowed to stay.

A Home Office spokesman said Immigration Minister Beverley Hughes had personally reviewed Miss Martin's case and decided to let her stay.

The last few days have been torment

Mary Martin

As she celebrated at home, Miss Martin said it was very good news.

"The last few days have been torment and anguish - I haven't slept and I haven't eaten.

"I have been here ever since I arrived as a child and have not even been abroad for a holiday.

"I have never applied for a passport because I never had enough money and never wanted to go abroad."

On Wednesday, Home Office officials said there had clearly been a mistake with a civil servant making a decision which "defied common sense".

'Just amazing'

Her local MP, former Conservative minister John Gummer, appealed to the Home Office on her behalf, describing the case as "just amazing" and saying he had never heard of such a scenario before.

He said: "I am also determined that the Home Office should find out why this has been allowed to happen.

"I don't see why people should be frightened in this way and I want to know what is being done about whoever it was who behaved in this manner.

"Clearly Miss Martin was not treated as a person, but someone took the view, 'oh well, this is just another case'."

Application rejected

Miss Martin was born in the United States, but moved to Britain as a two-year-old.

She discovered there was a problem with her citizenship status after her mother, June, died two years ago.

Checking through her mother's belongings, she discovered that she had never been registered as a UK citizen.

She said her application was then rejected by the Home Office because officials would not believe that she had lived in the UK uninterrupted for 14 years.