The father of a Bradford-born teenage girl whose body was found on a riverbank has denied she was being put under pressure to marry.

The badly-decomposed remains of Shafilea Ahmed, 17, were discovered in Cumbria five months after she disappeared from home.

A murder investigation is continuing into her death.

An inquest has heard that Shafilea ran away from home before a family trip to Pakistan because she was concerned that her parents were going to marry her in Pakistan and leave her there.

But her father Iftikhar Ahmed, 48, told the hearing today: "There's no question of her being married. There's no potential suitor. I've never discussed the marriage question between me and the daughter.

"That discussion has never taken place. Where she's heard it from I don't know."

Mr Ahmed, a taxi driver, denied claims made in evidence by Shafilea's friends that he and his wife beat her and stole her savings.

The teenager's body was found on the banks of the River Kent at Sedgwick in February 2004. She went missing from the family home in Warrington, Cheshire, five months earlier.

Mr Ahmed, a taxi driver, said he was a "worried parent" who drove round "like an idiot" looking for his daughter when she had previously run away from home in January 2003.

He said he did not alert police when she later disappeared as last time they had "laughed" at him when he went to report her missing.

The inquest has heard claims that Shafilea's £2,000 savings were stolen.

Mr Ahmed said: "We had no idea how much money she had in her account. We wouldn't have access to that account."

He also denied claims that there was an "escalation of violence" towards Shafilea by himself and his wife.

The inquest at the County Hall, Kendal, has heard that Shafilea came to school with a cut lip and bruising on her neck.

She told her friends that one parent would hold her down and the other would beat her.

Mr Ahmed said: "As far as I'm concerned it's not true."

He said his daughter never directly expressed her fears about having an arranged marriage to him, and that he found out through a teacher during a meeting at the school.

Her friends said in evidence that the day before she flew to Pakistan she was not aware she was going.

Mr Ahmed said his daughter was aware of the trip "a couple of days" prior to leaving and did not protest. He said: "If the girl doesn't want to go you can't basically force her."

He said the question of an arranged marriage was raised before they travelled to Pakistan when his uncle asked if Shafilea would marry his son, Rafaqat.

Mr Ahmed told him: "It's going to be years before we can even think about it" on account of his daughter's education and wishes coming first.

The question was put to Shafilea when they were in Pakistan. Mr Ahmed said: "This time, in front of Shafilea, I said to Shafilea right, this is what this guy's talking about, what do you think', she said no way' so I said sorry, it's not going to happen'."

He said Shafilea never met Rafaqat because he was working in Saudi Arabia.

During the trip to Pakistan Shafilea drank bleach and was admitted to hospital.

Mr Ahmed cancelled her return plane ticket because it was a 30-day ticket and had expired, he said.

Coroner for East and South Cumbria Ian Smith asked Mr Ahmed to outline what an arranged marriage was.

He replied: "Arranged marriages are conducted between two families with consent from the girl, with consent from the boy."

He said although 95 per cent of Asian marriages were arranged he did not necessarily expect his own children to follow this path.

Mr Ahmed also denied claims that Shafilea made to her friends that "they tried to marry me off but grandma stuck up for me".

Shaking his head, he said: "That's not true."

He refuted a retired police officer's claims that he said he was selling his house because his daughter had brought "shame upon the family".

He said: "That's totally ludicrous."

The family wanted to move to a bigger house, he said.

Mr Ahmed last saw his daughter on September 11, 2003. Shafilea returned home at 9.15pm, changed her clothes, had a meal, played with her siblings and studied, he said.

Shafilea was reported missing by a former school teacher on September 18, 2003.

Mr Smith asked him: "Do you know what happened to your daughter?"

Mr Ahmed replied: "No," and shook his head.