A woman whose daughter and granddaughter were murdered by her daughter's husband in America has spoken of the agonising wait she faces in her battle to bring their bodies back to Bradford.

Jacqui Melvin, 50, of Cottingley, has still not heard from American authorities about returning the bodies of Melanie Edwards, 33, and her two-year-old daughter Carli Fay, who were both shot dead by Melanie's estranged husband Carlton Lee.

She said: "I have got my daughter and granddaughter stuck over there, waiting for someone to claim them, and I just want to know what's happening.

"No-one's been in touch with us and I just can't cope any more. I feel very let down by the Government. Christmas has been a terrible time for us."

Apart from the £3,500 cost of bringing the bodies home - which Mrs Melvin fears she might be unable to afford - she is also concerned she may be thwarted in bringing her granddaughter home, given her American citizenship.

She said: "I will fight tooth and nail to have them buried together. That's the right thing in the circumstances.

"They died together and they shouldn't be buried separately. I hope that Carlton's mother has the compassion to realise that.

"I have never spoken to her. She never rang me after the murders even though she knew what her son had done.''

Mrs Melvin has enlisted the help of Shipley Labour MP Chris Leslie to fight her cause and is also grateful to her law firm, Hammond Suddards, which has offered financial help.

Mr Lee, 37, packed in his job in as an aircraft mechanic in Seattle shortly before the shootings, cancelled all his family's insurance policies and cleaned out their bank accounts. A Foreign Office spokesman said: "There are no public funds paid for by taxpayers to repatriate bodies to the UK. The best thing she can do is to contact our consulate division.''

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