A FAMILY is fleeing Kuwait after being told they are in danger because of the growing threat of war with Iraq.

British Embassy officials have instructed Rossendale couple Sean and Sharon McShea and their young children to be out of the country by Monday.

Today Sean's father, Coun Michael McShea, said relatives and friends back home had been living on a knife edge as the risk of conflict grew.

Sean and Sharon, formerly of Newchurch Road, Stacksteads, started their Arabian adventure in 1996.

The couple moved to Kuwait to become teachers in a primary school, where they have been ever since and have now got two children Caitlin, two and Ciaran, one.

They were told to have their bags packed and prepare to leave the country last September when tension mounted after a dossier of evidence against Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was disclosed.

Sean, 34, a former teacher at Thorn County Primary School, Bacup, and the family live 50 miles from Iraq and are among 4,500 British Nationals who are to flee the country.

His dad, Michael, a councillor for Stacksteads, said: "We can't wait for them to come home, it has been a very worrying time for everybody.

"They have had to deal with threats in the past but

nothing has ever gone this far. We will just be glad when they land in the UK. We want the children home so they are safe.

"We have had the news channels on all day and every day just in case there have been any changes. We have all been living on a knife edge for a long time but it is very sad that it has had to come to this.

"They had recently moved to a new apartment and things were going really well but it has always been at the back of their minds that it would end up like this."

Laura Halsey, a spokeswoman for the Foreign Office, said: "On Wednesday we changed our travel advice and we are now telling people to cancel any holidays booked for the area.

"We are advising residents to leave the country as soon as possible, unless they feel their place in the country is essential.

"We have given authority for our staff to leave. We have a warden network which is in contact with residents, giving them advice."

Prime Minister Tony Blair yesterday warned that he could not avoid war with Iraq unless Saddam Hussein "chooses the route of peaceful disarmament".