THE parents of missing teenager Shafilea Ahmed have been arrested on suspicion of her kidnap.

Father Ifitkhar Ahmed, 44, and mother Farzana, 41, were arrested at their home in Great Sankey, near Warrington, yesterday.

They were last night being questioned by detectives at a police station in Cheshire. Officers will today continue their search for 17-year-old Shafilea, whom they believe is "almost certainly" dead.

She was last seen at her three-bedroom home on Liverpool Road on September 11.

The teenager had recently returned from a trip to Pakistan where she drank bleach after being introduced to a suitor for an arranged marriage.

The injuries she suffered required regular medical attention to keep her oesophagus open from painful swelling. A police spokesman said last night: "A 44-year-old man and a 41-year-old woman from Warrington were arrested on suspicion of the kidnapping of Shafilea Ahmed.

"They are currently in custody at a Cheshire police station.

"Shafilea has not yet been found and Cheshire police are still searching for her."

Shafilea's parents were born in Pakistan but emigrated to Bradford after they married.

Ifitkhar, who has adopted the British name Joe, works as a taxi driver while Farzana, who can speak only broken English, stays at home to look after three younger sisters aged 15, 12 and seven and Shafilea's 13-year-old brother.

The teenager's father regularly attends the Jamiat Ul-Mulemeen mosque in Arpley Street in the cultural quarter of Warrington town centre but the female members of the family pray at home.

Earlier this month song lyrics found in the teenager's bedroom were read out at a press conference by actress Shobna Gulati, who plays Sunita in Coronation Street.

In one song, titled Happy Families, the westernised teenager refers to a clash of cultures.

Shafilea was only reported missing to police a week after her last sighting when her sisters were overheard discussing her disappearance by teachers at Great Sankey High School.

A missing person poster in Urdu has been distributed around the Asian communities.

Last month, police carried out forensic tests at the semi-detached family home.