Retired Crewe Engineer Stephen Bratherton is on his way back from Poland after delivering £4,000 worth of emergency aid from Cheshire to war-torn Ukraine.

But, the Good Samaritan is disappointed that he was unable to give a lift to a refugee family on his way back through Europe.

Today, Steve told Nub News: "It's a bit of a blow really. I have just arrived at Calais. The ferry has just set off."

The 64-year-old had hoped to be allocated a Ukrainian family - to help on their journey to Germany France or Britain - by refugee centre officials on the Polish border.

After waiting six hours at the Polish border with thousands of other volunteer drivers from across Europe, he was told that for security reasons no more refugees will be allowed out of the centre that day.

Steven had delivered much need burn kits to Ukraine. This was paid from his own pocket.

Steve set off on his thousand-mile trip across Europe on Saturday, in response to the conflict in Ukraine.

Yesterday, Steve arrived at his hotel, located approximately 20 miles from the Polish-Ukraine border.

The Haslington man purchased 40 burn treatment kits from his own pocket, costing more than £4000. He planned to distribute them to those in need.

Today the 64-year-old said: "My burn kits are on the way to Lviv Regional Clinical Hospital as there are 150 people with severe burns from a rocket attack two days ago.

"My Polish contact, Kamil, took the kits to another border crossing three hours away as the border is closed here for people going into Ukraine."

So far, Steve's Go Fund Me page, "My Mission to Help the People of Ukraine" has raised £5,042.

After his 1,500 mile journey and successful distribution of the burn kits, Steve began waiting to be partnered with a family at the refugee centre.

At 1:30pm yesterday afternoon, Steve told Nub News: "I am waiting for a family, but it's not looking good, I've been here for four hours."

After waiting more than six hours, Steve got the news that he was fearing, the borders were closed.

He posted on social media at 4:05pm: "The border is now closed for security reasons so there are no refugees to take back. I have waited all day. I'm now going back to the UK."

Steve's family and friends gave him support on Facebook, congratulating what he achieved on the mission.

You can read the Crewe Nub News article about Steve's trip here

He appeared live on ITV News yesterday evening at 6pm to offer an update.