South African mother-of-two, 57, who has lived in Britain since 1962 is facing DEPORTATION after checks for her new job showed she was 'not a British citizen'

A mother-of-two has been told she may face deportation despite living in Britain for more than 50 years.

Eve Woods, 57, left South Africa when she was four years old but could be forced to return after a job application revealed she was not a British citizen.

Ms Wood was asked to show she had the right to work in the UK so contacted government officials who told her she did not have 'settled status' in the country.

Ms Woods also looks after her elderly father who lives in a care home in Rochester, and said there would be no one to help him if she was forced to leave the country. 

Ms Woods, who lives in Medway, Kent, came to the UK from South Africa in 1962 with her mother and two siblings, travelling on her mother's passport.

She said she was 'made to feel like a criminal' - and all she wanted to do was get a job. 

Ms Woods said: 'All I wanted to do was get a job and earn some money for myself.

'I didn't want to get citizenship as I don't see why I need to take a citizenship test when I've lived here all my life. I've never known anything different.

'I don't know anyone in South Africa. I don't have any family there. I'm devastated.'

Ms Woods has been educated in the UK, worked, has been married twice, and brought up two sons in the UK. One of her sons, James, died in 2003.

She decided it was time to go back to work when her youngest son, Shane, turned 18.

But despite providing a National Insurance number, marriage certificates, and her sons' birth certificates, the government department told her she was unable to demonstrate that she had settled status in the UK.

She was then sent a letter from Capita, on behalf of the Home Office, warning she could face deportation. 

It read: 'We are contacting you because the Home Office has informed us that you do not have permission to be in the United Kingdom. Whilst you remain in the UK without leave you are liable to be removed.' 

She has contacted Kelly Tolhurst, MP for Rochester and Strood, who is now investigating Eve's case with the Home Office.

A Home Office spokesman said: 'We have been in touch with Ms Woods via her MP, to explain the options available to her, which includes the option of making another application.

'All immigration applications are treated on their individual merits and on the basis of the evidence provided.'