NO NEW Syrian families have arrived in Oxford as part of the government programme since the start of this year, the leader of Oxford City Council has said.

In December 2015 the council made arrangements for six families in UNHCR camps on the Syrian border to be resettled in private homes.

Councillor Bob Price said that those who had arrived seemed to be doing well, but there were no current plans for more to join them.

He said: "They are getting on fine. In each case there are different challenges in relation to language, health, acclimatising to the UK or getting into work. But the last meeting was about two weeks ago and there were no specific problems arising. No families are expected in the near future."

In recent months Oxford-based charities including Asylum Welcome have noted a steep rise in the number of Syrian asylum seekers arriving in Oxford under their own steam.

There is no data available for the numbers that have arrived over the past 12 months but Mr Price said the city council supported the idea of Asylum Welcome carrying out a survey of its own to find out just how many were now living in Oxfordshire. He said: "We wound find it very useful to get more information generally."

This week Prime Minister David Cameron has faced renewed pressure to open the door to more unaccompanied child refugees currently in camps in Europe.

Proposals are expected to be unveiled at the end of this week. If child refugees are resettled in Oxfordshire they would be under the care of Oxfordshire County Council.