Parents who fly their daughters to Pakistan for "forced" marriages should be jailed, an MP said today.

Ann Cryer said the possibility of prison would deter parents from threatening girls as young as 12 into living with relatives and preparing to become brides.

The Keighley Labour MP will ask the Government on Monday to bring in new laws making it a crime to aid and abet a forced marriage, or coerce a forced marriage.

She hopes to introduce an amendment to the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Bill, passing through the House of Commons.

The backbencher has acted because of the increasing number of teenage girls seeking her help to flee the prospect of a forced marriage.

She said: "One day last week I had four frightened girls who said they were being forced to marry against their will.

"A new law may not stop the problem but it is worth trying.

"This is not racist, it is not Islamophobic, it is not targeting any group: I just want the practice to stop.

"Parents should be told that if they force their daughters into marriage then they will end up in prison.

"If parents are doing it for money or get a leg up for their family, I don't care. What I care about is this abuse of young Asian women."

Action to prevent a forced marriage currently has to be brought about through laws on false imprisonment, threatening behaviour, harassment or assault.

The Telegraph & Argus recently revealed that up to 300 Asian girls a year are removed from Bradford schools and flown to Pakistan for forced marriages.

Families can receive sums of £10,000 for their daughter's hand, it is understood.

Following the marriage - usually without consent - the girls return to Britain to support their husband's visa application.

Mrs Cryer said only a minority of families clung to the custom of forcing daughters to marry a man - usually a first cousin - selected by parents and grandparents.

Unwilling girls were subjected to threats ranging from physical violence and being locked up, to subtle emotional blackmail.

Girls can also marry at 15 in Pakistan - although in some rural communities the age limit is ignored.

Mrs Cryer said it was vital to recognise the difference between the healthy tradition of arranged marriage, where the couple genuinely consent, and forced marriage.