A mother who has spent a year thousands of miles apart from her husband of 20 years says the Home Office won't let her family be a family.

Rachel Gair, 48, who was born in Northumberland, and her husband Craig Stock, 50, from Canada, had lived together in Haydon Bridge before returning to Nova Scotia with their daughter, Betsy, in 2010.

But with Rachel's mother getting older, the family decided last year it was time to return to the UK to ensure the 82-year-old had family close by.

With a job offer waiting for Craig, helping manage a local distillery, they didn't think they'd have a problem.

But Craig was forced to apply for a spousal visa - which means his application relies on the salary Rachel claims, working 30 hours a week at a local school.

Because she doesn't earn the Home Office's minimum requirement of £18,600 a year, Craig was refused entry to the UK, despite the fact that he planned to work here.

Rachel said: "I love England, it's my home, and Craig loves it here, and I feel so lucky that he's supporting me through this. He has been amazing, but it's so awful.

"We talk to Craig every day, we just have to, and every time we say goodbye it's just devastating for all of us."

Now 11, Betsy is settling in to life in Northumberland , going to school and making close friends in Hexham . But she's forced to do it all without her dad.

Craig was refused a visa in July 2018, and the family endured an agonising eight months apart as they waited for an appeal hearing - a wait which was prolonged when their appeal, scheduled for February, was delayed at short notice until the end of March.

And when the day of the appeal finally came, the judge delivered another blow. Craig's refusal had been upheld.

Rachel said: "It's just been devastation after devastation. My daughter is finding it so hard - she misses her daddy, misses him picking her up from school, misses him tickling her.

"When we went to the tribunal I told her 'it won't be long now' - and then we got this devastating news.

Rachel Gair and their daughter Betsy from Hexham Northumberland who's husband Craig is stuck living in Canada due to a immigration dispute

"I just can't fathom how it's all gone so wrong for us.

"We lived here for seven years, we owned a home together in Haydon Bridge, we paid our taxes, we're both honest, hard-working people."

Rachel, who says she was told by the judge that she could simply uproot her 82-year-old mum and fly her to Canada.

A Change.org petition set up by the family attracted more than 80,000 signatures in just two weeks, after Rachel set it up as a last resort, saying "the Home Office refuse to let us be a family".

"I'm grasping at anything I can possibly do," Rachel said.

"I feel like I had no choice but to go public, because people need to know what's going on. There are lots of people out there I'm sure in similar situations.

"Families like mine should not be separated because of money."

A Home Office spokesperson said: "All cases are carefully considered on their individual merits, in line with the immigration rules, and are based on evidence provided by the applicant.”

“To ensure families can support themselves financially, we ask for evidence that applicants looking to sponsor a non-EEA spouse or partner meet a minimum income threshold of £18,600.”