Family hope dad stranded in Cuba will be home for Christmas

A father from Nottinghamshire, who's been stranded in Cuba for four weeks after trouble with his passport, has been allowed home tomorrow, just in time for Christmas.

Cuban authorities refused to allow Yogi Depass to leave the country after he travelled there to help his mother repair the damage Hurricane Sandy did to her home.

December has been a very long month for Yogis partner Leah. After much negotiation with the Foreign Office, she is hoping he will be back home with her and their baby daughter on Christmas Eve, but the waiting and wondering has taken its toll.

Leah Hall says it has been a terrible ordeal: "Absolutely awful I've hardly had any sleep. Not really eating properly, just the stress and the emotional side of things as well. It's just been horrible."

The family enlisted the help of their local MP.

Mark Spencer said in the House of Commons "I wonder if the Prime Minister could encourage the Cuban authorities to look with compassion and speed to try and get Yogi back home for Christmas with his family"

Yogi now has a Cuban passport as well as a British one.

Mark Spencer MP said in the House of Commons: "He's got his passport in his hand. He needs to make sure he gets on that flight and with the goodwill of the Cuban authorities he should land in Birmingham on Christmas Eve"

Yogi was in Cuba helping his mother, whose home had been destroyed by Hurricane Sandy. Having not lived there for 20 years no one thought he wouldn't be allowed to leave. They're keeping everything crossed.

Leah's father Nigel Hall says: "Until I see him come through those doors at Birmingham Airport, that is when I will be confident, we've got him home. We all just have that gut feeling that he's going to get to immigration and they are going to find something"

Leah will find out tonight if he's on the plane heading home to Nottinghamshire, and if he is it will be her best Christmas present ever.