OXFORDSHIRE has a "duty" to accept more than 40 refugees from camps near war-torn Syria despite budget shortfalls, council leaders have said.

The county council will decide whether to join a Government scheme to relocate unaccompanied child asylum seekers from areas such as Kent, which have been "overwhelmed".

Officials say many arrive in Oxfordshire alone by lorry and in some cases they have endured sexual abuse during their journey to the UK or even torture in their home countries

County council leader Ian Hudspeth said: "We have got a duty to look after these children and will be working with the Government to see if we can also increase funding for it.

"In Oxfordshire we already accept a high proportion of child asylum seekers but clearly it cannot just fall to a small number of local authorities."

The county council currently looks after just over 50 unaccompanied child asylum seekers – the fourth-highest figure in the South East – but the decision would mean about 44 more could be accepted at a rate of two per month.

This compares to an estimated 900 being cared for in Kent.

This would bring it in line with a Government recommendation that councils should take on a number of child refugees equivalent to 0.07 per cent of their child populations.

But a report to senior councillors warns this will cost £1m a year, despite extra funding from Whitehall, which it has not yet found funding for.

Melinda Tilley, the council's cabinet member for children's services, said: "They are children who have no one and we cannot just leave them.

"Kent is overwhelmed at the moment and so other areas need to step up to the plate.

"Someone has to take care of them and I have no qualms about that – we have got to find the money somewhere and we will."

If the county council's cabinet agrees to join the scheme on Tuesday, child refugees could begin to arrive from this month.

But if councillors reject the proposals ministers have warned they could be forced to take on more refugees anyway.

Hannah Farncombe, county council deputy director for corporate parenting and safeguarding, said: "We have always had an open and welcoming response to unaccompanied child asylum seekers and what we have to remember – first and foremost – is they are children.

"Many turn up on the side of the road in Oxfordshire and they have considerable needs, so we need to reach out and support them.

"We are seeing quite young children, some who are quite traumatised or with significant health problems.

"They include those who may have been exploited on the road and some who have been through brutalising experiences – including torture."

Ms Farncombe said extra cash to pay for the children's care would be found through savings made from other areas or by cost-cutting.

And she appealed to the public to come forward as foster carers if they wanted to help: "We are keen to hear from people who want to foster children for us, including these children.

"They would need to go through the same checks as is normally expected, but it would be enormously helpful if families came forward."