THE loved ones of a Tavistock businessman have been told he will never be allowed to return to the UK after his final application to secure British citizenship failed.

Ali-Ekber Ademoglu, who had fled Turkey five years ago and formed a life in Tavistock with his partner Alison Shearer and young son Felix, made a last-ditch attempt to get a visa at the British Embassy in Turkey yesterday morning (Wednesday.)

Speaking to the Times after hearing the bad news Alison Shearer said she was devastated because the signs were very hopeful.

?We were getting a lot of support from our MP John Burnett and others who felt Ali had a very strong case,? she said. ?But we were told this morning that the application for a fiancee visa had failed because he is not earning enough money to keep his family.?

?This is the worst news we could have had and at this moment in time I don?t think Felix will ever see his father again.?

Ali ran a kebab shop in Tavistock before he was arrested at Tavistock Police Station on June 23 and deported to Turkey less than two weeks

later.

He had been waiting for an appeal date after a former application to get British citizenship was refused by the immigration authorities.

Alison said embassy officials could not expect his business to be booming in its first year of operation: ?Ali is trying really hard ? he has never claimed any benefits in this country and he has always worked,? she said.

?If the business did not take off he was quite prepared to do any job to provide for this family.?

Ali had feared for his life if he returned to Turkey as he was a member of the small minority group of Alevitish Kurds.

He was currently in hiding, with no money and hundreds of miles away from his mother?s home, said Alison.

?He is totally despondent and so are we,? she said.

?We have been told that he will have no other opportunities to apply for a visa and he will never be allowed to return to this country.

?Felix is going to have to live his life without a father ? the only way we could see Ali was if we went to Turkey and I cannot afford to go there.?

A petition supporting Ali had been started in Tavistock and MP John Burnett had campaigned for his return to the UK.

Mr Burnett said this week he could not believe that the case had failed: ?This is extremely disappointing news given the fact that Ali had lived and worked in this country for five years without getting any assistance from the state and he has a partner and child here.?

He said after talks with Home Office and British consulate officials, he believed the signs were good.

?The trouble is that the Prime Minister has made a commitment to hugely reduce the number of illegal immigrants and that has led to legitimate cases being denied.?

Mr Burnett said he would be contacting the Home Office minister and head of the visa section in Istanbul to challenge the decision.

A spokesperson for the Home Office said she could not discuss individual cases but each request for a visa was considered on its merits.

?The policy is that someone who does not have a right or reason to be in this country has to be deported,? she said.