The Norfolk chef stranded in Malaysia over a visa wrangle has issued a heartfelt thanks to all those backing the campaign to bring him home.Yesterday, exiled Howard Lee, who has not been able to return to the country he calls home in five months, said he was touched by the messages of support.

The Norfolk chef stranded in Malaysia over a visa wrangle has issued a heartfelt thanks to all those backing the campaign to bring him home.

Yesterday, exiled Howard Lee, who has not been able to return to the country he calls home in five months, said he was touched by the messages of support.

In an email to the 500-plus people who signed an online petition backing his case, Mr Lee said: “The last few months have been enlightening, to say the least.

“It's been a long, emotional rollercoaster ride, which seems to have a disproportionately large amount of downs and hardly any ups. Thank you so much. Your kind words and support have helped me overcome some fairly rough patches.”

He added: “I'll cook you all a meal when I get back.”

Mr Lee, who used to be the popular face of Bedfords Bar and Restaurant in Norwich, has been left trapped in his native Malaysia, unable to set foot back in Britain while his English wife Fiona Williamson remains in Norfolk.

The passport row started in 2002 when Mr Lee, who came to Norfolk in 1995 on a student visa, applied for British naturalisation and sent his passport to the Home Office.

Mr Lee believes that all this information is in his old passport which he claims the Home Office lost.

He is expecting to have a date for his case to be heard at the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal in the UK in the next two weeks.

To support Mr Lee sign his petition at www ipetitions.com/ petition/bringhowardhome and you can visit Bring Howard Home on the internet social network Facebook.

Read his exclusive EDP blog on this site.