A city daily has become the third regional title to call for its patch to serve as a sanctuary for refugees fleeing Syria.

The Star, Sheffield used yesterday’s front page, pictured below, to call for the city to honour its tag as the first officially recognised ‘City of Sanctuary’, a title it gained in 2007.

The Star follows the examples of the Birmingham Mail and Manchester Evening News, which both made front page pleas on Friday urging Prime Minister David Cameron to do more for refugees.

On the same day, the Prime Minister announced the UK would take in 20,000 refugees over the course of the next five years.

Editor James Mitchinson wrote in yesterday’s Star: “Sheffield has an enviable reputation across so many of its sectors: healthcare, education, manufacturing, research and development… the list goes on.

“This city has a proven track record for being brave. For leading the way where angels fear to tread.

“Well now is the time for the Steel City to really show its mettle, because people’s lives depend on it. People’s lives depend on us.”

James went on to highlight the contribution made by migrants to a new £65m Chinatown development in Sheffield, the brainchild of Jerry Cheung, who came to the city in 1975.

In a nod to the MEN’s front page on Friday, he further added: “I use the Chinatown example because one of the big selling points to getting it past council planners was that it would take inward Chinese investment away from the likes of Manchester and Leeds, further strengthening Sheffield’s competitiveness in national and global terms.

“There’s no doubt Sheffield is playing catch-up with the likes of Manchester on an economic basis.

“But hear this: nobody, but nowhere can offer desperate refugees a second chance at life like we can.

“The Manchester Evening News ran this strikingly poignant front page (pictured below) on Friday, quite rightly making a pitch for Manchester to become a City of Sanctuary.

“Well we were there almost a decade ago. We were the first to offer broken, destitute, crest-fallen families a chance to rebuild their lives. More than ever we need to live up to our reputation.”