WE are sure the majority of people in North Yorkshire will be pleased to welcome Dr Kamren Saeed and his wife Iram Kamran in their new status as full British citizens.

At the region's first citizenship ceremony in County Hall, Northallerton, the Saeeds took the oath of allegiance to the Queen and pledged to respect this country's rights and freedoms.

Dr Saeed is already respected as an orthopaedic surgeon at the town's Friarage Hospital and the ceremony helped him and his family feel part of their adopted community.

So far, so good. However, challenges lie ahead for a part of the world which hitherto has sat at margins of multi-cultural Britain. Many more are set to follow in Dr Saeed's path and we are not talking here about illegal immigration.

The newly enlarged Europe will mean more legitimate economic migration and most of these "new Britons", particularly those from Eastern Europe, may not have the background and the valued professional skills of Dr Saeed.

This may come as something of a shock for parts of rural Britain, like North Yorkshire and areas of County Durham, which have not seen the same number of migrants as our cities.

These new Britons will, however, deserve exactly the same respect as the Northallerton surgeon