Plans to make forced marriages a criminal offence could be seen as an attack on Bradford's ethnic communities, the Government said yesterday.

New laws could also stop victims seeking help amid fears their mothers and fathers would be jailed while encouraging parents to take children overseas at a younger age until they are married.

And it could drive underground the practice of pressuring young children, usually girls, to wed against their will, said a joint Foreign Office and Home Office consultation document.

Ministers want to tackle the problem of girls being threatened with physical violence, locked up or suffering emotional blackmail if they refuse to marry. More than 100 have been murdered.

But the document - called Forced Marriage: A Wrong Not A Right - presented ten arguments against a change in the law and only five in favour.

But Keighley MP Ann Cryer, who has repeatedly urged the Government to bring in new laws making it a crime to aid and abet or coerce a forced marriage, said: "I think it's a sham. I'd be delighted if at the end of the consultation ministers say, 'We think this is a good law because it will be a deterrent and we'll see a decrease in forced marriages,' but I don't think we will.

"Ministers are not keen on creating a new offence, yet forced marriage is not something we should tolerate in a civilised society.

"Why do we even need a consultation? When rape in marriage became a crime, did we have a consultation? No. Yet that is exactly what forced marriage is allowing."

Mrs Cryer - who has dealt with some 240 women involved in forced marriages in the last year - said: "We need to create a separate offence to demonstrate our commitment to young British citizens who are being abused."

The document issued yesterday said: "A new offence would disproportionately impact on black and minority ethnic communities and might be misinterpreted as an attack on those communities."

It continued: "There are concerns that it would be very difficult to mount a successful prosecution using the new offence, particularly as many victims are reluctant to see their families get into trouble.

"Some potential victims might rather go through with a forced marriage than risk the possibility of being seen responsible for their parents' prosecution."

Criminalising forced marriages could also place younger children in danger of being taken abroad to wed, the document added.

Ministers are also concerned that any perpetrators who were successfully prosecuted could "become martyrs to a law that could be perceived as unfair."

The Government has dealt with almost 1,000 cases of suspected forced marriages since 2000, mainly involving links to south Asian countries.

Ministers would expect about ten cases a year to go to court. The proposals would cost about £420,000 in the first year, falling to about £220,000 in the following year.

At present, those guilty of forcing someone into marriage can be prosecuted for kidnap, false imprisonment or rape.

Last year, the Telegraph & Argus revealed that up to 300 Asian girls a year are removed from Bradford schools and flown to Pakistan for forced marriages. Families can receive up to £10,000 for their daughter's hand.