A desperate appeal has been launched to save a popular Maidstone barman from deportation after 13 years of living in the country.

Fred Buenavista, who lived with his family near Leybourne Lakes, is due to be deported to his birthplace of the Philippines at 12pm on Monday.

The move comes despite the fact he has little recollection of living there, very few links to the country and speaks hardly any Filipino.

Mr Buenavista said: “My whole family is here, I’ve been with my family for as long as I can remember.

"I’ve made a life living here, I’ve made friends. This has pretty much been thrown out and I’ve got to start again from zero.

"I'll have to start a new life pretty much… I won’t really know where to start.

"I’m feeling down, really depressed. I will miss so many people - my big sister, my dad, my mum, my friends at work who have really become part of the family.

"I know my friends are doing as much as they can and I’m really grateful."

"I’ve made a life living here, I’ve made friends. This has pretty much been thrown out and I’ve got to start again from zero" - Fred Buenavista

The 32-year-old former barman's friends have launched an online campaign to stop his deportation.

Mr Buenavista worked at The Royal Albion, in Havock Lane, before his work visa expired 18 months ago.

He moved to England from New Zealand aged 19 with his family, having previously spent three years in Hong Kong, six months in Belgium and a year in Malaysia.

The former UCA student, who went to college in Dartford, is being held in Dover Immigration Removal Centre after his visa expired and his appeal to stay was refused by the Home Office.

Friend Scott Smith described the decision as a "true injustice for someone who has been paying taxes for so many years".

The 29-year-old, from Coxheath, added: "Fred is an upright and just pillar of the local Maidstone community. He is a hard-working, law-abiding and tax-paying individual.

"I've known him for the past five years after meeting him at the pub where we used to play pool together."

Mr Buenavista’s mother, step father and sisters are British citizens, but he is not a fully-fledged British citizen.

Hi step-father Alan Pratt, who works as an IT consultant, said: “We have exhausted all the legal routes to getting the decision overturned. There is absolutely no chance of him being a burden on the system if he stays here.

"He has nowhere to live when he gets there and knows no one.

“The irony of it is he used to sit in the pub with a radio helping the police catch criminals.”

Royal Albion manager Karan Le Quelenec said: "He was taken from his fortnightly meeting in Folkestone with only the clothes on he was wearing and was told his appeal had been denied and he was to be deported immediately.

"He has a very large circle of friends in Maidstone and this news is devastating for everyone who knew him, he hasn't got a bad bone in his body."

The petition on www.change.org has been rapidly gaining support since it was launched on Wednesday.

By this evening it had more than 1,400 signatures, smashing the target of 1,000.