Pressure is mounting on councillors to take a leading role in helping UK-bound refugees, as a campaign group pledges to give new arrivals a home in High Wycombe.

The High Wycombe Donations for Refugees group will hand in a petition to Wycombe District Council next month in a bid to get approval for about 50 families to move to the town.

They have been backed by more than 120 people so far, and are currently compiling a list of people who are willing to provide short, medium and long-term shelter in their homes or in properties they own.

The petition comes as WDC leader councillor Katrina Wood responded to an open letter by Wycombe Labour calling for more to be done by saying “in these extraordinary circumstances we would seek to play our part and offer practical help”.

Speaking on behalf of High Wycombe Donations for Refugees, Dr Stephanie Rybak, said: “You must be as appalled as we are by the suffering of so many refugees.

“We shall be presenting a petition asking the council to invite 50 refugee families to the Wycombe area.

“Your immediate reaction, as responsible councillors, is likely to be concern as to how you could look after these people.”

She added: “Some people have expressed concern about accepting refugees as a purely economic cost and burden on already stretched public services.

“These would undoubtedly be factors to consider in determining how many people we could take.

“On the other hand, many commentators have expressed the view that many of the refugees currently reaching Europe are educated, experienced and economically very motivated people.

“Rather than seeing refugees as always a burden, we think that, quite apart from the urgent need to stand up for compassionate British values, there could be long-term economic benefits to our local community in accepting refugees.”

Earlier this month, Wycombe Labour called on WDC to offer a “generous humanitarian hand of assistance to the refugees of Syria”.

Cllr Wood has this week responded by saying: “The world can see that this is a humanitarian crisis and thousands of people urgently need help. This is a crisis which has implications on an international, national and ultimately comes down to a local level.”

She added: “Within Wycombe district we have a proud tradition of tolerance and of welcoming people of many different nationalities who have settled here and are an integral part of our local community.

“As yet the role local government will need to play and the role Wycombe District Council specifically will play is not defined so we are not yet in a position to commit to numbers.

“It’s not just about providing homes for people to live in, it’s also making sure that at a local level we can help them by providing the health, education and social support they will need.”