THE Dorset MP taking on the case of the 19-year-old asylum seeker facing deportation has told senior Home Office officials she is concerned he has no legal representation, and hopes a local solicitor will come forward to help him.

In a letter to the office of minister of state for immigration, the MP for mid Dorset and north Poole Annette Brooke says she is worried that Andrei Bazanov is not receiving any legal support during his current appeal tribunal.

She says that a decision on the young man's future could therefore be taken behind closed doors without a legal professional working on his behalf.

She told the Daily Echo yesterday that what Andrei desperately needs is a local solicitor to help him, working on a pro bono basis.

"Given the high profile of the local campaign, they would also get good advertising," said a spokesperson from her office.

Another idea, she said, would be a campaign to raise the funds needed so that his foster family could afford the fees needed to stage a legal battle.

"This young man needs and deserves our support," said Mrs Brooke.

Andrei arrived in the UK aged 15 in the back of a lorry at Poole after fleeing a children's home in the former Soviet republic of Moldova.

Within six months of arriving not speaking a word of English he excelled at GCSEs, then A-levels and is now working to fund his degree at Bournemouth University, which he started this month.

Pupils and teachers at his former school, Bournemouth School, have compiled a petition of more than 1,000 signatures as well as writing to the prime minister and other senior government officials.

His leave to stay expired in August last year, an application for further leave then failed in April this year and his appeal was dismissed last month.

If you can help, contact the Daily Echo on 01202 411255.