An independent judge has backed a Home Office decision to deport a woman and her six-year-old daughter to Pakistan because they have no legal basis to remain in the UK.

The pair, who settled in the Ingrow area of Keighley 18 months ago, have been given eight weeks to leave after two pleas for asylum failed.

But Ayesha Ali is continuing to fight the deportation, saying she and her daughter Dua would face a serious threat of religious persecution in Pakistan for converting from Islam to Christianity.

She is now making a further claim on behalf of her daughter, a pupil at Ingrow Primary School, in a last-gasp bid to remain in the country.

Ayesha said: “If I go back, people will kill me and my daughter – life for Dua and I would be very dangerous.” She also fears her estranged husband could track them down.

Dua and Ayesha are being helped by Keighley West councillor Jan Smithies. They are also being supported by Dua’s godmother, Ingrow school governor Kathryn Foster, a fellow member of St John’s Church. Ayesha began attending early last year after meeting local Christians who were supporting asylum-seekers living in Keighley.

Ayesha came to the UK in November 2011 to escape her short-lived marriage. She sold her jewellery to pay an agent who arranged flights for to London.

Mrs Foster said Ayesha was now a hard-working member of the St John’s Church community.

She said: “She does two days a week working in charity shops and helps with the Salvation Army.”

Coun Smithies has put Ayesha in touch with asylum lawyers. She said: “There are essentially two reasons for appealing, including the potential threat to a child.”

Keighley MP Kris Hopkins said Mrs Foster has been invited to meet him at one of his surgeries in Keighley. But he added: “Having not met either Mrs Foster or Ms Ali, I have certainly given no commitment to support this application.”

A Home Office spokesman said: “The UK only returns individuals if both the Home Office and the courts are satisfied they do not need our protection and have no legal basis to remain in the country.

“Ms Ali’s applications have been considered and rejected by the Home Office, and both these decisions have been upheld by an independent judge.”