A FAMILY of asylum seekers given 30 days to leave the country have been given fresh hope that they could stay in the UK.

Nigel Karim, 53, his wife Pearl, 44, and children Crystal, 14, and Calvin,12, have been told by the Home Office they must leave their home in Barkerhouse Road, Nelson, and return to Pakistan in the next two weeks.

But their lawyer is set to make a fresh bid for asylum which could allow them to stay - at least for now.

Hope seemed to have been lost after a judicial review into the case was rejected by the High Court and a letter from Pendle MP Gordon Prentice pleading the family's case to immigration minister Liam Byrne was dismissed.

A letter from Mr Byrne said that the family has no legal basis to remain in the UK, and that they must leave voluntarily within 30 days from May 3, or face detention and deportation.

The family believe their lives would be in danger if they returned to Pakistan because of their Catholic faith.

Mrs Karim's cousin was murdered shortly before the family left five years ago, and it is thought that the killers were really after her husband because of his religious beliefs.

Mr Karim has also been told by friends there is a poster in his home country offering £6,000 as a reward for his death.

The family's lawyer, Richard Roberts, said: "The existing claim has been completely exhausted but what we are considering now is really a last throw of the dice and is a fresh asylum application based on the fact that the family's profile is so high that they will be treated differently by the Pakistani authorities.

"I don't want to raise the family's hopes too much, but this is a new avenue we can explore."

The Home Office will now consider whether any fresh application is new in terms of the evidence it offers.

If it is new, they go on to consider it, a process which could take up to two years.