LOCAL authorities in the York region are on standby as more Kosovo refugees prepare for evacuation to the UK.

About 160 war-zone homeless, mostly women and children, arrived in Leeds at the weekend and a similar number will arrive at East Midlands airport tomorrow.

The UN refugee agency is concentrating on flying about 100,000 people out of the conflict region to make way for more refugees who are stuck in no man's land.

Flights are being arranged as and when air space becomes available but limited facilities mean all take-offs have to be carefully planned.

It is expected that two or maybe three flights will arrive in the UK each week as the operation continues.

Both the City of York Council and North Yorkshire County Council said they were waiting to hear from the Home Office whether any refugees would be sent here.

Meanwhile, nearly 2,000 ethnic Albanian refugees fled into Albania early today, telling of a new Serb campaign to clear villages in southern Kosovo and alluding to a possible new massacre.

Several refugees told reporters that Serb police surrounded their villages yesterday and told them to leave immediately. They made the 12-mile journey on tractors, wagons and other vehicles.

Many claimed Serb troops had stopped some vehicles along the way and taken away young and middle-aged men.

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