A FAMILY living in Bury for the past four years have lost their fight to stay in the UK.

The Aftab family were deported to Pakistan on Sunday. This was despite last-minute attempts by campaigners to halt the deportation, which including putting pressure on airline Gulf Air not to take the family.

Mrs Tabassum Aftab, along with her five children, said she was forced to flee Pakistan in September 2004 because of religious tensions in the country. The family settled in the town, with the children attending local schools and colleges.

This year, eldest daughter Rabia Aftab (18) achieved five A grades and one B grade in her A levels and was looking forward to studying medicine at university. The Aftabs were beset by tragedy in 2001 when six-year-old Shoaib was killed in a road accident. His mother frequently visits his grave in Bury Cemetery.

But despite a lengthy campaign fought on legal and compassionate grounds to keep the family in Bury, immigration officials turned up at the family's home in East Street, Bury, last Thursday morning and took them to a detention centre in London. Ms Sue Arnall of Solidarity, a Bury group working with asylum seekers and refugees, told the Bury Times: 'The whole process of turning up at the home at 7am is very cruel. The family were told to pack a small bag. I do not know if the rest of their belongings got to them in time.

'There is ongoing sectarian violence in Lahore, of which the family were fearful. And on selfish grounds we need talented young people like Rabia to become doctors in this country. If she was to apply to still go to university in this country, there is a possibility that Bury could help through bursaries and grants.'

A spokeswoman for the National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaign, said: 'Thanks to everyone who supported the Aftab family in their struggle to stay in the UK. I am afraid to say that they were removed to Lahore.