Coronation Street star Shobna Gulati, who plays Sunita in the soap, read out poems about feeling trapped and family honour as detectives stepped up their hunt for a missing Bradford-born teenager.

Shafilea Ahmed, 17, who was born in Girlington, was last seen at her home in Warrington, Cheshire, on September 11.

Yesterday police, who fear she may be dead, organised the poetry reading at a press conference to give the inquiry fresh impetus.

Shafilea had recently returned from a trip to Pakistan where she drank bleach after being introduced to a suitor for an arranged marriage.

The injuries she suffered required regular medical attention and detectives from Cheshire believe she may be dead. They have declined to rule out the possibility her disappearance is linked to her apparent refusal to marry.

The investigation has already interviewed several members of her family in Bradford.

Song lyrics found in the teenager's bedroom were read out by Shobna Gulati.

In a song called I Feel Trapped, Shafila wrote: "It was my last year in school, so happy with my friends I got lots to do

"But came this day when everything changed

"I came home it seemed like a normal day

"But sumthing wasn't right

"I wish I coulda changed the event

"I shoulda killed myself instead

"I'd rather have been dead

"Coz now I have a burden on my chest

"And no it won't go away, the guilt, the pain."

In the chorus she wrote: "I'm trapped, so trapped I'm trapped

"(I don't know wot to do) I feel trapped."

Ms Gulati said: "Many of us are sympathetic. She has obviously been unable to express herself in terms of her family and she probably talks like this to her friends, or she has written these songs in private.

"I think she is definitely looking as though she is trapped between two cultures. She wants to express something and she feels unable to do that."

Detective Chief Inspector Geraint Jones, who is leading the inquiry, was asked if he had ruled out the possibility of an "honour killing".

He said: "That remains a line of inquiry.

"We have to investigate the possibility that Shafilea was killed because she has not consented to something."

Anyone with information is asked to contact Warrington CID on (01244) 613836.