A GURKHA war hero who holds the Victoria Cross – Britain's highest military award – could soon be coming to live in Kent after a Government U-turn.

Foreign Office bosses capitulated after public uproar greeted their initial decision not to let the frail Tul Bahadur Pun live in Britain because, they said, he did not have "strong ties with the UK".

In addition to his Victoria Cross, Mr Pun, 84, has 10 other British medals, including the Burma Star. He was awarded the VC for his bravery in fighting the Japanese in the battle for Mogaung, Burma.

Now the Kentish Express can reveal that Mr Pun, who suffers from heart problems, high blood pressure and asthma, may soon be living in Folkestone. He could see out his final years in the seaside town.

Folkestone’s first Gurkha councillor, Dhan Gurung, said: “I am very pleased Tul Bahadur Pun has been granted entry into Britain. I shall be working to bring him to Folkestone, where he would feel at home among Gurkhas, in a town that has so much respect for them.

“It was shameful for the whole nation not to allow him to live in Britain at first, and disrespectful to all our war heroes.”

Mr Pun won his VC on June 23, 1944. After nearly all his comrades had been killed, he grabbed a Bren gun and, firing from the hip in ankle-deep mud, ignored shattering Japanese fire and stormed their machine gun positions.

Some 2,000 Gurkhas have settled in Folkestone, and the Royal Gurkha Rifles have been based at Shorncliffe Barracks since 2003.

Mr Pun, who lives in a shack in Nepal, wants to come to Britain so that in his final years he can receive good medical care.

After the hero, who was invited to the Queen’s coronation and had tea with the Queen Mother, was barred by the Foreign Office, there followed a massive campaign by the Daily Mirror, politicians, lawyers and Gurkhas to let him in.

FULL STORY IN THE FOLKESTONE EDITION OF THIS WEEK'S KENTISH EXPRESS