A MOTHER threatened with deportation has vowed to continue her family's fight for asylum - despite a narrow escape from police and immigration officials sent to detain them.

Pearl Karim fled Pakistan with her husband, Nigel, and children Crystal, 13, and 11-year-old Calvin in 2002, and has been locked in a four-year battle to stay in England.

And today could decide if they get a reprieve, with the case going before a court.

They decided to leave their home in Karachi for Nelson, where her mother and father, Fred and Shakuntla Samuels live, within days of her cousin being murdered.

Pearl said: "He was killed at work in broad daylight. He was tied to his office chair and killed with a lethal injection. Nigel spent a lot of time with him and it could have been a case of mistaken identity."

Speaking to supporters at a packed meeting in Christ Church, Nelson, last night , she said: "I am a mother with a husband and two children. I will go to any lengths to save their lives.

"No one will guarantee that if we are sent back we will not be attacked by these fanatics who take pleasure in killing."

The murder of her cousin was the final straw for the family, who suffered threats and intimidation from one side of Nigel's family after he converted from the Muslim faith to Christianity.

Pendle MP Gordon Prentice, who has backed the family's case, said it was clear Christians faced persecution in Pakistan.

He promised to take a petition signed by thousands of supporters to the Home Office.

He was told yesterday that his personal pleas on their behalf had been rejected and, even before he got the message, police had arrived at their home planning to detain the family.

They had to leave empty handed because they were not at home. They had been visiting schools throughout Lancashire to thank them for their support and were unable to get home by public transport, so stayed with friends.

But now the family are the subject of so-called absconder' action from the Home Office and face arrest and deportation.

The family's lawyer was applying for a judicial review of their case and they expect the application to go before a judge today. If it is successful they will be allowed to stay until a full hearing takes place.

Friends of Crystal and Calvin from Fisher-More School also attended the meeting, and headteacher Brendan Conboy made an impassioned plea for the family to be allowed to stay.

He said: "The decision to deport this family is wrong. It is unfair, it is unjust - it just isn't right.

"Crystal and Calvin are valued and well-liked members of our school and we will do everything we can to save them."

A Home Office spokesman said: "Occasionally we visit an address to arrest a family and if that family is not present, and their whereabouts cannot be established, they will be subject to absconder action and are liable to be apprehended by police. "