Forced marriage is 'worse than thought'

Several thousand more British women than previously thought could have been forced into marriage, according to a report yesterday.

Government figures showing that several hundred woman, from different backgrounds all over the country, have been forced to marry represent just the "tip of the iceberg", said the report from a parliamentary specialist adviser.

Nazia Khanum's study, commissioned by Margaret Moran, a member of the House of Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, focused on Luton, north of London, and found there had been about 300 forced marriages in that area alone.