A petition has been set up calling on Three Rivers District Council to offer a home to ten families as the refugee crisis in Europe intensifies.

Labour leadership hopeful Yvette Cooper MP says more than 40 councils across England are prepared to take on extra refugees.

Campaign group 38 degrees has now launched a petition calling on Three Rivers District Council to take in 10 families.

Calls for the UK to take in more refugees have intensified after a picture was published of the body of a drowned three-year-old Syrian boy, Alan Kurdi, washed up on a Turkish beach.

The petition reads: “Alan, the toddler who drowned fleeing Syria, was just three years old.

“His town was under attack by Isis. His five year old brother and his mum also died trying to reach safety.

“Yet our prime minister has just said ‘we won't take any more refugees’. He thinks that most of us don't care.

"But 38 Degrees members do care. We don't want Britain to be the kind of country that turns its back as people drown in their desperation to flee places like Syria.”

Prime Minister David Cameron insisted the UK would take on extra refugees but the Tory PM made it clear the extra refugees would come from camps bordering Syria and not from areas under pressure across Europe.

The petition can be seen here: https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/refugees-welcome-in-three-rivers?source=twitter-share-button