A grief-stricken family are pleading for help so a father can attend his son’s funeral.

Alfie Green, who was just 20, died in a car crash at the end of July, leaving his mother and two sisters in Tonbridge heartbroken.

But Alfie’s father, Klodjan Gjoka, is Albanian and lives in the country’s capital city of Tirana.

Mr Gjoka’s request for a visa to visit the UK to attend his son’s funeral on September 8 has been denied by the Home Office because he had previously entered the country illegally.

Mr Gjoka first came to the UK in 1999 to escape conflict in Albania. There he met and married Alfie’s mother, Kelly Green.

The couple had twins, Alfie and Claudia together, but split up in 2005 and got divorced in 2010.

Shortly after, when Mr Gjoka was stopped for a driving offence, the authorities became aware that he was in the country illegally and he was deported.

He now has a new family in Albania – the twins’ baby step-sister Isabela-Chanel, now two, and their step-brother Eris who is six months old.

Mrs Green also has another child, Micheala, by a different dad.

But despite living in another country, Mr Gjoka has remained close to his English family, and his son and daughter often visited him there.

Alfie visited just last month, and Alfie’s twin sister, Claudia was there at Christmas.

Claudia Green, of Hectorage Road, Tonbridge, described the decision by the Home Office as “absolutely disgusting.”

She said: “How on earth can you say to a father that he cannot come to his son’s funeral to say goodbye?

“We all need each other’s support and we all need to be here together here for my brother.”

Claudia said: “We are all going through so much pain and heartbreak and now they have refused my dad permission to come and say goodbye.

“He applied and waited two weeks. Then when he went to pick up his passport he was told that morning that he had been refused a visa.

“This is honestly disgusting. As soon as my dad applied, they should have told him to go and pick his visa up that same day so he could be here with us and we could all be supporting each other and trying to stay strong.”

The family have asked Tonbridge and Malling MP Tom Tugendhat (Con) for help.

Claudia said: “We do so hope he can help. We just need my dad here.”

Mr Tugendhat said: “Alfie’s untimely death a few weeks ago was tragic and has understandably hit the family hard – my thoughts are with them.

“I am helping the family as best I can in seeing whether his father, Klodjan Gjoka, can travel from Albania for the funeral.

“I am doing what I can to support the family.”

Alfie Green’s funeral service will be held in Tunbridge Wells and will be webcast for his Albanian relatives to follow. Afterwards, the burial will be in Tonbridge.

He died on July 31 when the Ford Escort in which he was a passenger crossed the centre carriageway of the A20 near Farningham into the path of an oncoming panel van.

The Escort was being driven by Alfie’s friend and workmate, Jake Green, 20, of Hunt Road, Tonbridge. The two men were not related.

They had been working together as labourers on a site in London.

Both were declared dead at the scene.

An inquest has been opened and adjourned.

Claudia Green said: “Alfie was the best man to ever walk this life.

“He needs us to all be able to say goodbye together. Please can someone help us?”

The Home Office said: “All visa applications are carefully considered on their individual merits, on the basis of the evidence provided and in accordance with the Immigration Rules. We do not comment on individual cases.”