Lord Alf Dubs has spoken out in support of welcoming 3,000 unaccompanied Syrian child refugees.

Lord Dubs, of High Lorton, was brought in the UK as a child refugee from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia in 1939.

He was rescued from Prague by Sir Nicholas Winton, the British Shindler, when he was six.

On Monday, the House of Lords backed an amendment from Lord Dubs calling on the Government to accept Syrian children who have fled their home country and ended up in Europe.

He said: "There are thousands of children adrift in Europe. They are at risk of being forced into prostitution, human trafficking, and other criminal behaviours.

"I think 3,000 is a reasonable share of the total that there are and it's important that we play our part. Some of them are in Italy and others in Calais and I think it would be a strong humanitarian gesture from our part."

Save the Children estimates there are 26,000 lone children across Europe.

The amendment is now due to be discussed in the House of Commons.

He added: "Of course my life experience has an impact on my opinion on this matter, but there is a stronger case than that for this amendment to be approved.

"I don't want to make comparisons between my situation and theirs, I came in as a child refugee with thousands of other children because we were trying to escape concentration camps.

"They need help and support, we can't let them go. People in Cumbria have shown they want to be helpful and humanitarian.

"I've been overwhelmed by messages of support from people and organisations."

The Government has pledged to take in 20,000 refugees from Syria by 2020, but the Prime Minister has said that taking refugees already in Europe could encourage more to make the journey to the continent.