About 150 Kosovo Albanians, who have been staying in hostels throughout England and Scotland, took off from Leeds-Bradford airport in West Yorkshire at 0900 BST.

They landed in Skopje in Macedonia and a fleet of buses is now ferrying them back to their own villages and towns.

Each of the refugees, who are returning voluntarily, has been given £250 from the UK Government to help them rebuild their lives.

Freedom flight

Vjollca Tahiri, 23, who was evacuated to Leeds with her parents and two young children three months ago, said her family was happy to be returning to Kosovo.

The BBC's Richard Wells: "A day of happiness and apprehension"

Clutching her one-year-old son, Bildin, she said: "I am very worried because we know our home has been destroyed, but what matters is that we're going home and it's freedom."

Mrs Tahiri's house has been burned down, but the Pristina home of her parents, Iner and Isma Ademi, is still standing, although it has been looted.

An elderly woman waits to catch the bus that will take her home

She added: "Nato is there so I hope it won't be so dangerous.

"When we arrived on the first day until now, we have had a very good impression of Britain.

"But we want to go home - it's our place, it's our country.

"We want to say thanks to everybody. Everybody has a home for us here, but our place is home," she added.

Refugees face a tough homecoming

Nick Hardwick, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said despite the hardship facing many of the refugees they were still desperate to return.

He said: "They've been split up from their families, they have family scattered around other parts of Europe.

"They want to start the process of rebuilding their lives as soon as possible."

Mass repatriation

The mass move is being co-ordinated by the Home Office, the UNHCR and the International Organisation for Migration.

The return programme will eventually include the 4,346 refugees who arrived under the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) Humanitarian Evacuation Programme.

A further 10,000 who made their way to Britain before the Kosovo conflict and who have applied for asylum will also be eligible for repatriation.

All the refugees were given 12 months' exceptional leave to remain in Britain when they arrived.

The latest figures from the UNHCR show that just over 685,000 ethnic Albanians have returned to Kosovo, with about 87,500 still in neighbouring countries.

UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond said that between 2,000 and 3,000 refugees are returning each day.

Young Kosovan children clutching gifts from their hosts

Liz Westmorland, of the Yorkshire Refugee Co-ordination Team, which has helped make the return arrangements, said: "Many of the evacuees are very anxious to return home as soon as possible, so this flight is welcome news.

"Obviously, many refugees will prefer to wait a little longer before returning.

"There is not yet much to go back to and many will choose to wait until after the winter."

The next flight full of refugees, from the UK back to Kosovo, is expected to depart on 5 August.