A SPECIALIST prosecution unit of is being created to work on honour crime after Lancashire was identified as a potential "hotspot".

A dedicated team of prosecutors is to be deployed in the county in the wake of reports that so-called honour crimes and killings - as well as offences arising from forced marriage - were on the rise.

A team of 20 officers is to be based in Lancashire, with others in London, the West Midlands and West Yorkshire.

Each team will be trained by different agencies including the police, the government's forced marriage unit and an independent victims' group.

The officers, who have all had experience of complex organised crime cases, will start work this month as part of an overhaul of how cases are handled.

The move is to boost conviction rates and improve protection for victims.

The Crown Prosecution Service has revealed the changes after the justice system was criticised for doing too little to protect vulnerable women.

It is hoped the changes will identify woman in danger at an early stage.

Lancashire's Chief Crown Prosecutor Robert Marshall said the pilot scheme would draw lessons from successful prosecutions from around the country.

He said: "It will allow prosecutors to understand the pressures which can make it difficult for witnesses to come forward and give evidence against other members of their family or community.

"Cases involving so called honour crime are often difficult to investigate and prosecute because they happen within a family setting.

"We recognise that this is a specialised area of work and are confident that the pilot will enable police and prosecutors to deal more effectively with these cases.

"There is clearly no honour in committing these very serious criminal offences in the misguided belief that they will protect a family's reputation."

The changes were sparked after a 20-year-old Kurdish woman was murdered by her father and uncle in Birmingham because they disapproved of her boyfriend who was not a strict Muslim.

Banaz Mahmod's body was found dumped in a suitcase. She had repeatedly told police her family were trying to kill her.