WORCESTER'S MP has defended a councillor who called migrants a "swarm" of people "jumping on the bandwagon" - saying many people share similar concerns.

Robin Walker says Councillor Alan Amos, who came under fire from Amnesty International for his remarks, was voicing the fears of "many people he represents" in Warndon.

Mr Walker's own position is that he backs the UK taking in significant numbers of refugees as long as areas like Worcestershire can obtain proper, sustainable extra funding for them - but he has refused to publicly denigrate Councillor Amos for taking a harsher view.

The city's MP has also defended the current approach from the Government - insisting it is right that it moves to dampen concerns over pressure on services like housing, while revealing he has lobbied ministers hard over funding councils properly to ensure refugees can come in and re-settle here successfully.

As your Worcester News revealed earlier this month, Councillor Amos has urged Worcester to resist calls to take in any significant quotas of refugees, saying he is alarmed by "swarms of immigrants pushing their way into Europe on a daily basis".

The former city mayor, who left the Labour Party last year to re-join the Conservatives, also said he believed a "silent majority" share his scepticism, citing worries around a lack of housing, school places and pressures on GP surgeries.

In recent weeks Mr Walker has been urged by some figures in the Labour Party to dissociate himself from that view, including former Worcester MP Mike Foster.

Mr Walker, a Conservative, has now published an open letter for Councillor Adrian Gregson, who leads the city's Labour group, defending Councillor Amos.

It follows a note from Councillor Gregson last week which urged Worcestershire's decision-makers to help take in Syrian refugees and also called for Mr Walker to publicly criticise his party sidekick.

Mr Walker said: "Your letter demanded that I should dissociate myself from comments reported in the press from one local councillor - a former Labour councillor who is now a Conservative, raising the concerns of his constituents about housing.

"I do not think it would be right to object to such concerns being raised, and I recognise he was voicing the genuine worries of many of the people he represents.

"I have received a number of emails and letters from individuals in Worcester with similar concerns and do not think they should be simply dismissed."

The letter, which runs to four pages, focuses on his efforts to get the Government to go further on helping refugees, pointing out that he contacted Number 10 over it earlier this month.

He calls it "an appalling humanitarian situation", saying he's also had talks with ministers and Worcestershire County Council's leadership over trying to secure "vital" funding for education, health, housing and other services so the refugees can be re-settled successfully without draining existing resources.

Mr Walker has also lobbed Richard Harrington, the newly-appointed minister for re-settling Syrian refugees, on the funding, insisting a "sustainable solution" must be found for the county to play its full part.

Mr Walker's letter also defended Prime Minister David Cameron's policies on Syrian refugees after the PM vowed that 20,000 would be re-settled in the UK by 2020.

In Councillor Amos' remarks earlier this month, he also said "only about 20 per cent" of refugees are Syrian, claiming the rest are "jumping on the bandwagon" from nations like Nigeria, Pakistan and Sudan.

It was subjected to serious criticism from humanitarian campaigners, who claimed the figures were inaccurate and suggested the ex-mayor "de-humanised" desperate people.

Last week Worcestershire County Council voted to draft an application to the Home Office to take Syrian refugees in - with more plans due to emerge in the coming weeks.

Councillor Gregson said: "It's clearly good news that the county council has responded favourably to public opinion, given the awful facts we're all seeing come through on a daily basis.

"We'll have to see what materialises and what Worcestershire can also offer to other areas, perhaps who might look to follow.

"The terminology (Councillor Amos) used, the whole way he approached it with that language was wrong."