A MACEDONIAN woman campaigning to be allowed to stay in the North-East won support at an international women's event in the region.

Lile Dimitrievski and her husband Marjun have been told they must leave Redcar, in east Cleveland - where they have lived for 18 months - and return to their home on the Macedonian border with Kosovo.

But the couple are fighting to stay in this country because of the detrimental effect returning to the war-torn country would have on their two sons, Sasha, 12, and eight-year-old Miki.

They also say Marjun would be arrested if he returned home because he is a conscientious objector.

On Friday, Mrs Dimitrievski told an audience at an International Women's Day, in Stockton, Teesside, how her family fled the war. She also spoke of the anti-deportation campaign under way in Redcar to persuade an Immigration Appeal Tribunal to allow the family to stay in England.

More than 100 people attending the women's day signed a petition and pledged their support to Mrs Dimitrievski's campaign.

Pete Widlinski, of the North-East Coalition for Asylum Rights, said the response was "absolutely fantastic".

He said it was hoped the tribunal would make a decision on the family's fate in the next few weeks.