A HUMANITARIAN aid worker is trapped in the Gaza Strip after the Egyptian authorities refused to let her through.

Jenny Linnell has been trying to leave the Middle East danger zone and return to her native Totnes.

The 33-year-old former vegan chef at The Willow restaurant, has been helping Palestinians in Rafah, a town near the border with Egypt, for the past year.

The pro-Palestinian activist tried to return to Britain a month ago, but has been unable to leave Gaza because neither Israel nor Egypt will let her out through their borders.

Speaking by telephone from the Rafah Crossing, Ms Linnell, who reported on the Israeli bombardment and onslaught on Gaza in January, said: "We first approached the British Embassy in Cairo on May 31.

"On June 9 we were told they had the required coordination and paperwork. This was faxed through to the British Embassy in Cairo.

"They took a copy of this fax to the Rafah crossing when we attempted to pass.

"We had been told it was acceptable for British nationals to leave before the date of the official opening of the crossing so we attempted to cross on June 10.

"After several hours and several trips backwards and forwards, the Palestinian official responsible for coordination said we were not allowed to go through at that time.

"Despite several calls we have been refused entry."

The humanitarian aid worker and three fellow UK citizens, including two men and a woman, tried to cross the border several times, but were turned away despite having the necessary official documents from the British Embassy in Cairo, the Palestinian government and the Egyptians.

A spokesman for the Egyptian Embassy in London said: "I'm not sure the embassy here can help.

"There are hundreds of people at the Rafah crossing. Each case is different. It may be a question of paperwork."

Ms Linnell added: "The Egyptian officials at the border asked how we entered Gaza and we said we arrived on the Free Gaza Movement Boat.

"They told us 'so you already know why you're not being allowed out'.

"This would suggest we're being detained as a form of unofficial punishment for our humanitarian work in Gaza."

She added: "Local people here have been very supportive, but we feel quite distressed about being unable to leave.

"We don't know what's going to happen. At first we were full of fight, but with every day that passes the sense of being trapped is growing."

Ms Linnell's friends and family in Totnes have been putting pressure on the Egyptian Government to let her in so she can leave the region.

Richard Taylor, one of Ms Linnell's friends in Totnes, said: "We're desperately trying to get her out. We've asked the Foreign Office for help. It looks like she's been singled out because she arrived in Gaza on the Free Gaza boat.

"What the Egyptian Government is doing is against her human rights."

Mr Taylor said there was no way Ms Linnell could leave Gaza via Israel because the border between the two countries is not open.

He added: "Because of her involvement in the Free Gaza movement the Israelis would probably shoot her or arrest her if she tried to cross the border there."

Another friend, Lou Brown, said: "We are all really concerned for her now and know how desperate she is to come home.

"The reports and eye-witness videos she has sent back have been a harrowing insight into the plight of the Palestinian people over these last months.

"We are anxious for her to come home as soon as possible now, but worryingly the Egyptian border officials seem to be answerable to no one."