Confusion last night surrounded the controversy over how the figure of 250 girls aged 13 to 16 were taken off Bradford's school roll got into a Government report.

The figure is quoted in a Home Office document Marriage Partnerships from Overseas published in December.

It reads: "According to the Crown Prosecution Service, 250 girls aged between the ages of 13-16 were taken off the school roll in Bradford during 2006 because they failed to return from a trip abroad."

There has been much controversy over the figures with officials complaining it suggested all the pupils had been forced into marriage.

A Commons Home Affairs Select Committee inquiry into forced marriage heard from Bradford Council's Director of Children's Services Kath Tunstall and Education Bradford managing director John Gaskin.

The committee heard how as of March 19, 27 pupils, both boys and girls, were missing off the school roll but both chiefs said they had no reason to believe any had been forced into marriage.

But how the 250 figure got into the public domain appears to be at the centre of allegations surrounding disciplinary action of Philip Balmforth, a police support officer regarded as a national authority on "honour-based" violence.

He has been contacted for help by more than 2,000 local women fearing they may be forced into marriage in recent years.

Despite questioning from the Telegraph & Argus no-one was able to say who could have access to information on how many pupils had been taken off the roll, which could have been passed to the CPS, the source cited in the Government document.

Bradford Council initially refused to comment on Mr Balmforth's situation but last night issued a statement admitting it had made a complaint to West Yorkshire Police.

Jo Miller, the Council's deputy chief executive, said: "Bradford Council and West Yorkshire Police are quite clear that if there is one forced marriage in Bradford, it is one too many. Bradford Council expressed concern that Philip Balmforth appeared to be giving inaccurate information to the media and was speaking without liaising with other partner agencies tackling domestic abuse in the district."

A West Yorkshire Police spokesman added: "West Yorkshire Police is not able to comment directly on the detail of internal disciplinary matters however it is correct that disciplinary action against Mr Balmforth has been instituted but he has not been suspended as has been suggested.

"West Yorkshire Police takes the issue of forced marriage extremely seriously, so it is deeply disappointing that misleading information, which was poorly researched and inaccurate, was provided to the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee inquiry into domestic violence.

"Many of our staff tackle the problem of forced marriage in West Yorkshire - not just Philip Balmforth - and all provide great expertise and care.

"Nobody is attempting to sweep this important issue under the carpet, on the contrary, we have well over a dozen staff in force who are trained to deal with forced marriage issues under the overall control of a Detective Inspector."

Mr Balmforth could not be contacted for comment.