A terrified Banham Poultry worker was detained when returning from a visit to his family in Ukraine - and told he would have to enlist in the war-torn country's army.

Andrew Rouse, 30, from Attleborough, was born in Ukraine but has lived in Norfolk since he was five and holds a British passport.

He had gone back to visit his grandmother and cousin in Mykolaiv, in the south of the country, as the war with Russia continues.

But he encountered difficulties at the Shehyni/Medyka control point on the Ukrainian and Polish border when leaving the country on Wednesday (July 12) with his mother Olya, who lives in Thetford.

READ MORE: Norfolk hosts needed to offer homes to Ukrainian families

Mr Rouse, who works as a data analyst, said a Ukrainian customs official challenged him when he showed his passport, which states he was born in Ukraine.

He said: "For the first few seconds she was checking my passport. And then she said I needed to wait because I had been born in Ukraine, so should be enlisted in the army.

"She was wanting to know why I didn't speak Ukrainian, but I'd only lived there until I was five and I knew more Russian than Ukrainian.

Eastern Daily Press: A Ukrainian soldier in front of a bomb-damaged building in KyivA Ukrainian soldier in front of a bomb-damaged building in Kyiv (Image: PA)

"She wasn't interested in any discussion and I just didn't know what was going to happen.

"She then went off down a hallway and went in a room, where I guess she was talking to a manager.

READ MORE: Norwich protest marks year after Russia invaded Ukraine

"She came back and was checking the passports of a bunch of other people and I was left standing there with my mum wondering what was going on.

"My mum continued to ask what was going on and said to me that we should call the British Embassy.

"I was on my phone trying to find the number when she seemed to give up, gave my passport back and we got to continue through."

Eastern Daily Press: The war in Ukraine has been going on since February 2022The war in Ukraine has been going on since February 2022 (Image: Press Association)

Mr Rouse said he understood the country's heightened alert following Russia's invasion, but that he had been left shaken by his experience.

He said: "It was incredibly scary. I was worried I was going to be put on a lorry and sent off to fight."