A Rabbi from Wimbledon joined a delegation of Jewish leaders at Downing Street this week, to deliver a petition calling for the Government to take in Syrian refugees fleeing the war-torn country.

Rabbi Sybil Sheridan of Wimbledon and District Reform Synagogue was with the Jewish Council for Racial Equality (JCORE) when it handed a letter to Prime Minister David Cameron inside Number 10, signed by 200 people supporting the action.

The Government is facing pressure from politicians and humanitarian charities calling for the UK to open its borders to people from the Middle Eastern country, in the wake of the ongoing civil war there.

More than 100,000 people have been killed in the three years since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began - but Britain is yet to accept refugees into the country.

Instead, the UK government has offered financial help to those affected by the conflict.

But Rabbi Sheridan said “As the child of refugees from persecution, my life was saved by the hospitality of this country.

"I would hate to see the doors closed to others in the same situation."

She was joined in Whitehall by Rabbi Jeremy Gordon, Rabbi Danny Rich, Rabbi Lee Sunderland, and Dr Edie Friedman, director of JCORE.

Dr Friedman said: "We in the Jewish community know only too well the perils of being refugees and the indifference which too often meets those in need of sanctuary.

"We must play our part in offering them a place of safety - it's the very least we can do."