A Hull Daily Mail campaign for the return of a deported woman and her five-year-old daughter - backed by more than 2,000 readers - has reached an asylum and immigration tribunal.

The Mail has driven a campaign to bring Deborah Phillips back home to her ailing mother Betty since she was deported by the Home Office to the USA in May.

Deborah was born in America but spent much of her childhood in Hull and attended local schools, and after serving in the US Navy moved back to Hull in 2003 to care for her father, Phil, who has since died, and her mother, Betty.

At an asylum and immigration tribunal hearing to appeal against the deportation, the judge was handed a portfolio of the Mail's coverage, including more than 2,000 letters, e-mails and coupons supporting the Mail's Bring Back Deborah campaign.

It also included a DVD of video news bulletins covering the campaign, with a plea by Deborah, filmed before she was deported.

Judge Howard Bryan agreed to accept the package and promised he would look through the portfolio before deciding in the next two weeks if Deborah can return.

Afterwards the Mail broke the news to Deborah that the judge had decided to defer his decision, as she had not been allowed to return to England for the hearing, at which her 79-year-old mother, who suffers from severe arthritis and a life-threatening heart condition, was questioned for two hours.

As part of the Mail's extensive coverage of the appeal, video bulletins of the emotional telephone call and of Betty Phillips' reaction to the tribunal hearing were filmed and uploaded at www.thisishull.co.uk/deborah.

Hull Daily Mail editor John Meehan said: "It is clear to me and to our readers that Deborah and her family have become the unfortunate victims of circumstances and of immigration rules which have been applied far too rigidly.

"The video of our reporter, Katy Wood, breaking the news of the decision being deferred to Deborah makes compelling viewing and demonstrates the anguish that the family is going through.

"A strong case was presented to the tribunal this week, which we were happy to contribute to. We hope it will result in the right decision being made and, ultimately, to the family being reunited."

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