A type 1 diabetic British man in Kyiv with his wife and son said he has had to start reusing his needles as the sound of explosions rings around Kyiv.

Nathan Rossiter, 32, from Essex, has spent most of the past seven years in Kharkiv, but travelled to Kyiv in an attempt to secure visas for his wife Lena and five-year-old son Leo to travel to the UK.

Mr Rossiter said he has since received word from his MP Robert Halfon that the visas for his wife and son have been authorised and added that he has been told the Home Office will issue a notice to any airline they use that they have the authority to fly to the UK.

“We’re still in the hotel at the moment,” Mr Rossiter told the PA news agency on Friday morning.

“Just went out looking for a cash machine, they’re all empty. All shops are closed, couldn’t get any food.

“I have a few thousand UAH in cash, which will pay for the hotel for another couple of nights. Then I’m not sure what we will do.

“(I) can’t see anything from the hotel, but we can hear explosions, slowly getting closer to us as the day has gone on.”

The website designer said he has a week’s worth of insulin but is “at the point now where I’m re-using needles” after being unable to obtain supplies.

Mr Rossiter added that his son is unaware of the circumstances, but that the stress has taken its toll on his wife.

“Lena is the most stressed I have ever seen her, nobody here expected Putin to go through with it, it has been a big shock to a lot of Ukrainians,” he said.

“Lena hardly slept at all last night and we’re currently taking it in shifts – one of us is awake while the other sleeps, so we can keep an eye on things outside and leave in a hurry if we need to.”