THE Home Office today defended the way it handles asylum cases following the suspected suicide of an Eritrean man who had been refused permission to stay in Britain.

Nassar Ahmed had been living in Nelson after fleeing from Ethiopia, where there is civil war in the province of Eritrea.

Mr Ahmed, 36, of Railway Street, was found hanged at his home after recently learning that his appeal for asylum had been refused.

His close friend and fellow asylum seeker Frewoini Meheretab said the dead man had been 'very afraid' of being sent back home, where he had previously been jailed. He did not want to go back.

Although an inquest into his death has still to be held, support worker the Rev Sally Thomas believed the way the rejection letters are laid out could cause sudden distress to someone desperate to stay in the UK, with the word 'refusal' the first word they see at the top of the page.

But a spokesman for the Home Office said the letters were of a high standard and included all the options open to the asylum seeker.

He added: "Police are still investigating the circumstances of his death and an inquest has yet to be held so it would not be appropriate to comment on what actually happened to Mr Ahmed. "In terms of the letter and the way it worked, basically the appeal against the initial decision to refuse asylum was held in Manchester on July 16 and the decision to refuse it was made on July 20.

"We make every effort to make sure all correspondence to those seeking asylum contains full explanations and includes all options for appeal.

"Elements of the letter have legal effects therefore we have to say why the appeal has been refused. If we use sympathetic language it could lead to an appeal decision being affected.

"If the person appealed at the port, the decision is explained in person with a translator. Otherwise the letter is sent to the legal representative if they have one so the letter can be explained to them fully.

"A refusal letter is headed 'Reasons for Refusal' but there is also a 'Notice of decision' letter containing details of the appeals process."