'We're scared to death' - Bradford family trying to flee Afghanistan turned away at country’s border

• Video report by Harry Horton.

A family from Bradford trying to flee Afghanistan have been turned away at the country’s border after being told the UK government wouldn’t allow the crossing.

The plight of the UK passport holders has prompted their local MP to write to the Foreign Secretary, demanding help to evacuate the family back home to Yorkshire.

Three members of the family travelled to the country for a wedding, but got caught up in the Taliban takeover.

One member of the family, Ramin, now fears the Taliban will go back on a pledge to let foreign nationals leave the country.

He said: “They’re not following what they agreed, that they are going to forgive every foreign person that worked with the government. So we’ve noticed that whoever they catch have worked for the government before. They obviously kill them and eliminate them."

One of Ramin’s cousins was captured and killed last week, after Taliban fighters discovered he had worked for government security forces. He now fears for his immediate family’s safety.

He said: “There’s a high risk that they’ll catch us and say that we are some kind of spies or something or anything like that and they’ll just kill us.

“We’re scared to death because obviously if they find out that there’s foreigners, especially from the UK, they’ll call us infidel or something and kill us.”

Last week the family travelled to the Uzbekistan border in an attempt to escape. Taliban border guards allowed them to exit, but Uzbekistan officials denied them entry.

The officials said they were ordered by the Uzbekistan government not to allow UK officials to enter, and that was at the request of the British government.

The family's lawyer Barry Clark said: “They’re all British citizens and not only should they not be stopped from getting back to the UK, they should be given assistance if it’s needed."

Bradford West MP Naz Shah has written to the foreign secretary to request urgent help.

The MP said: “They have to get out. I have got so many constituents who are trying to desperately get out in fear of their lives, in fear of their loved ones. Loved ones have died, loved ones have been killed. These people are desperate.”

Since mid-August, the UK government has helped more than 15,000 people escape Afghanistan. The foreign office were approached for comment.