SCHOOLS should be legally bound to provide help and information on forced marriages, according to the director of a domestic violence charity.

Shaminder Ubhi of the Waltham Forest-based Ashiana Project says girls will continue to be taken out of education by their families and pressured into marrying if schools do not become better equipped to deal with the issue.

The charity, which provides counselling and refuge to victims of domestic violence, has dealt with 175 forced marriage cases since April 2006, of which 28 have been from the borough.

However Ms Ubhi said it was difficult to estimate the full scale of the problem, and many cases would not be detected as some schools were not willing to confront the issue.

She said: "Schools we have a relationship with are able to identify risk factors, and where we have that contact it works relatively well.

"But we only work in four or five schools in Waltham Forest. In schools that have no-one coming in and talking about forced marriage, teachers may not be aware.

"There are bound to be ones we can't help, where girls don't know what help is available. They may go through with it and have no idea where they can get the support from.

"If teachers aren't aware of the issue, they may talk to the girl's parents and put her at more risk.

"The way round this is for it to be mandatory for schools to have access to this information - to tell them they have to do this'."

Ms Ubhi said the issue could easily be fitted into citizenship classes.

She said while Ashiana's work was well-received by some schools, others have been less supportive because they do not believe the issue is relevant to them.

Ms Ubhi also claims that it is impossible to know the full scale of the problem in Waltham Forest because agencies such as Asdiana Project, the council's social services department and police are not sharing information in an effective way.

A spokeswoman for EduAction, the company managing education in Waltham Forest, said: "No cases of this have been reported to the monthly Children Missing Education Panel."

MS Ubhi's comments come after concerns were raised by MPs that the problem of forced marriage may be much more widespread than previously thought.

The Government's Forced Marriage Unit deals with about 300 cases a year, but a report by Luton MP Margaret Moran estimated the same number was taking place annually in her constituency alone.

The Home Affairs select committee heard that 33 children have gone missing from schools in Bradford over the past year. It is feared that the pupils have been taken abroad for parentally-arranged marriages.

THE body representing local Governments across the country has expressed concern over forced marriages, but argues there is little councils can do to stop it.

A spokesman for the Local Government Assoc-iation said: "It is a serious concern when any child is unaccounted for, and local authorities are working hard to improve the way they keep track of children who are absent from school for extended periods.

"However, this is an extremely difficult problem to tackle because if parents tell schools that they are taking their children abroad for an extended holiday, there is very little that councils can do.

"In some of our communities there appears to be widespread acceptance of this practice, so neighbours and friends are reluctant to come forward to report it.

"It is essential for schools, professionals such as family doctors, and local residents to increase vigilance and report any signs of family bullying or domestic abuse of teenage girls."