Campaign to support asylum family

Pendle MP Gordon Prentice supports the Karims' campaign

Campaigners fighting to stop a family of asylum seekers being deported from east Lancashire are trying to raise awareness of their plight.

Nigel and Pearl Karim and children, Calvin, 11, and Crystal, 13, arrived in Nelson, Lancashire, in 2002.

The Christian family claim that they will be persecuted if they return to their native Pakistan - but the Home Office has rejected their appeals.

Supporters have been seeking signatures for a petition to keep them in the UK.

As well as asking shoppers in Nelson to sign the petition, campaigners were handing out leaflets detailing their fight on Saturday.

Without them I don't know where myself and my family would have been Pearl Karim

Mrs Karim told the BBC she was really thankful for the level of support her family has received.

"I would call them angels who have just come down from heaven, god sent," she said.

"Without them I don't know where myself and my family would have been.

"But it's a miracle we are surrounded by so many people who love us, who care so much for us that they are going to extreme lengths to get us sorted out."

The Karims' fight to stay in Nelson has been supported by Pendle Borough Council and local Labour MP Gordon Prentice.