A CITY housing charity is calling on the Home Office to reverse a decision to deport an asylum seeker.

The Nottingham Arimathea Trust, in Ilkeston Road, Radford, is worried about Hussein Khedri's mental state.

The charity, which was set up in 2007 and provides support to people who have their first claim for asylum rejected, claims Mr Khedri is suicidal.

He will be flown back to Afghanistan on a chartered flight which leaves from a undisclosed location on Monday.

Mr Khedri, who claims to have been tortured and abused in his home country, was detained as he went to report to the immigration service at the Loughborough Reporting Centre on Wednesday.

Trust chairman Carolyn Gilmore said: "We can't understand why they have detained him now. He has been signing regularly every month."

The exact age of Mr Khedri cannot be agreed upon. The charity say he is 19, but he is recorded by the Home Office as 22. He is not entitled to automatic legal aid.

Trust project manager Caron Boulghassoul said: "This has never before happened to one of our clients and we're extremely concerned. Hussein was the most mentally fragile case I have ever come across."

Jo Petersen, project manager at the Nottingham Welcome Project, which looks after the interests of refugees, said: "Getting legal aid is more difficult than ever, but it is essential to have legal representation as it's so difficult to navigate the legal system on your own especially when you don't have an understanding of the language or culture."

The Home Office's immigration service said it would not discuss individual cases. A spokesman for the UK Border Agency said: "The UK has a proud record of offering sanctuary to those who need it, but where we have found they do not qualify for protection we believe they should return to their home country."