Every Ukrainian refugee due to stay with a sponsor in Barrow has arrived in the UK, according to new figures.

The Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme, also known as Homes for Ukraine, allows citizens to volunteer to house refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine.

Sponsors offer accommodation for at least six months, with those receiving sponsorship allowed to live, work and study in the UK for up to three years.

Home Office data from Tuesday shows all nine of the refugees due to stay with hosts in Barrow had arrived in the UK.

Refugees have also been arriving through the Ukraine Family Scheme, which allows Ukrainian nationals to join family members in the UK.

Across the UK, 107,400 visas had been issued to Ukrainian refugees through both schemes as of Tuesday, but only half – 53,800 – had arrived in the UK by Monday.

The Government warned the data is likely to contain some duplicate records, while around two per cent of sponsors could not be assigned to a local area.

Charities have criticised the Government for not doing enough to help, with some calling for visa requirements to be waived for those fleeing the conflict.

Head of advocacy at the charity Refugee Council, Andy Hewett, called the scheme "unfit for purpose".

Mr Hewett said that they had received reports of delays at every stage of the application process, and of necessary documents not reaching refugees quick enough for them to travel.

Some families are also not having their applications processed together, creating difficulties when not all visas are granted at the same time.

Others have flagged the potential for safeguarding issues from a lack of thorough checks on prospective sponsors, and there have been national reports of refugees becoming homeless after being turfed out by their hosts.

The number of successful applications has increased compared to last month. As of April 19, 71,800 applications had been granted through both schemes, and 21,600 had arrived in the UK as of the day before.

The Home Office said spokesperson called the scheme "one of the fastest and biggest visa schemes in UK history" adding they are now “processing visas as fast as quickly as they come in” as a result of changes to the application system.