An HIV-positive asylum seeker, who was cleared of rape after having unprotected sex with a woman at her flat, cannot be returned to his home country because of the political situation there.

Nqobizitha Ngwenya, a 30-year-old Zimbabwean, has been served with deportation papers after he was previously refused asylum, but is now set to remain in the UK.

Ngwenya, who was sentenced to two months' imprisonment after admitting lying about his name and immigration status to obtain work, is still thought to be living in the Great Horton area.

He walked free two weeks ago when a jury took less than 40 minutes to find him not guilty of rape following a trial at Bradford Crown Court.

The woman claimed Ngwenya, who was working illegally as a cleaner at a nursing home, had pinned her arms behind her, pushed her into her bedroom and forced her to have unprotected sex after delivering crates of beer for a party to her home in April.

He told the court she had consented to sex and had told him there was no time to find a condom. The jury was told they had been friends for two years and had once slept together in 2005.

The court heard Ngwenya had known since April 2003 he was HIV positive and a doctor said there was a risk of transmission.

A judge freed him from the jail sentence for the deception offence because he had already spent four months in custody on remand.

A West Yorkshire P police spokesman confirmed Ngwenya had been served with deportation papers, which enabled the Home Office to remove him from the country should they wish to do so.

The spokesman said: "We have spoken to the immigration service and have been told a High Court ruling means nobody can be returned to Zimbabwe due to the political situation there.

"They cannot return Mr Ngwenya to Zimbabwe because of that.

"Should the situation improve in Zimbabwe, he could be liable to deportation at some future point."

Ngwenya, described as a family man, is thought to have provided a false passport and birth certificate to get work at the nursing home under the name of Maxwell.

It is understood he disappeared after his asylum status was refused five years ago.

A Home Office spokesman said they were unable to comment on individual cases., but she confirmed they were having to defer enforced returns of failed asylum seekers to Zimbabwe.

She said asylum seekers could be subject to reporting restrictions or held in removal centres.