A LITTLE boy has been left upset and confused after his dad was ordered to leave the country with only one day's notice.

Kegan Smart, 22, left the UK for his native Jamaica on Monday, leaving behind his devastated partner Rachel Stevens, 21, and their 11-month-old son, Kegan jnr.

Miss Stevens, of Wingfield Road, Trowbridge, said: "It was heartbreaking at Heathrow. Junior was so excited waving goodbye to his dad because he didn't understand.

"He is missing him, every time the phone rings or the doorbell goes he thinks it's his dad."

Mr Smart had to leave the UK after confusion surrounding his immigration status meant he had been living in this country illegally for the past few years.

Ironically the situation only came to light after he started making inquiries himself.

Now Miss Stevens is being forced to give up the home she shared with her boyfriend of nearly three years because she can no longer afford the rent.

In order to keep her family together and allow her son to be with his dad on his first birthday she has also given up her part-time job at an estate agency so she can fly to Jamaica.

She will be allowed to stay there for three months - but doesn't know what the future will then hold.

Mr Smart, a keen cricketer who plays for Bradford on Avon Cricket Club, came to the UK four-and-a-half-years ago as a visitor to see his mother, sister and other family members who live in Trowbridge.

He decided he wanted to stay on and applied to study mechanical engineering at Wiltshire College Trowbridge.

Miss Stevens said he had thought the correct documentation for him to stay was being sorted out by the Home Office, and the couple did not realise until last year that he had not gained permission.

Miss Stevens said: "We just had a conversation and I thought something wasn't right. We contacted the Citizens' Advice and they said to get a solicitor, which we did.

"At this time I was pregnant and they put together a human rights application for him to stay."

Having not heard anything for a few months Mr Smart, by now working for Audio Systems in Westbury, called his solicitor this week and was informed he had to leave.

A spokesman for the Home Office said: "If a person has no legal basis to remain in this country we would encourage them to leave voluntarily rather than to be forcibly deported.

"They can then re-apply to return to this country and their personal circumstances will be taken into account."

Speaking from Jamaica on Wednesday Mr Smart, who has never claimed benefits in the UK, said: "I am devastated at being away from my partner and my child. I am missing my little boy very much. I am hoping I will be allowed back but I don't know the best way to go about it."