A doctor who was allegedly held captive by her family in Bangladesh is due to return to Britain after being freed.

Lawyers for Humayra Abedin, from east London, had said the trainee family doctor's family had planned to force her into a marriage.

Anne-Marie Hutchinson, Abedin's lawyer, said on Monday the 33-year-old had boarded a flight from Dhaka the previous night.

"She's fine, but obviously exhausted and was anxious to leave before people changed their mind," Hutchinson said.

Abedin had moved to Britain six years ago to study and was due to start work at a surgery in east London before she returned to Bangladesh after hearing her mother had fallen ill.

'Big trouble'

Britain's High Court in London issued an order last week under a new Forced Marriage Act which allows British courts to prevent forced marriages.

The High Court in Bangladesh then ruled she should be freed. "She requested the court not to put her parents in trouble because of what they did to her," said Syed Mahmud Hossain, the judge.

"But I am saying what you (the parents) have done to her is not acceptable. If there's any further problem you will be in big trouble."

Hutchinson said there was significant under-reporting of cases of forced marriage, saying there were as many as 350 similar cases involving British women.