THE first flight bringing new Syrian refugees to the UK has arrived - two months after council leaders in Worcestershire agreed to start talks with the Home Office on it.

A charter plane believed to be carrying around 100 people from camps surrounding the war-torn Middle East state landed at around 3.40pm yesterday.

Several more special flights will arrive at airports around Britain in the coming months as the programme to take 20,000 refugees by 2020 intensifies.

We revealed in September how all seven of Worcestershire's council leaders agreed to express an interest in taking some into the county by working up a formal application to the Home Office.

Talks have taken place with ministers since then but it will only resume after Chancellor George Osborne's Comprehensive Spending Review on Wednesday, November 25.

County leaders have yet to spell out what kind of figure they believe Worcestershire should take.

Yesterday's new arrivals will be given a five-year visa allowing them to remain in the country, after which they will be able to apply for leave to remain.

Downing Street refused to specify how many refugees were arriving yesterday but said they had undergone "rigorous" security checks before boarding the plane.

A spokesman said it would be "reasonable to assume" the refugees would go to areas close to Glasgow.