A school in Leeds is attempting to tackle forced marriages by giving their pupils spoons to hide in their underwear to trigger airport metal detectors.

Students at the Co-Operative academy in Harehills have all been given the cutlery as part of a programme designed to raise awareness about “honour”-based abuse and forced marriage.

The scheme has been implemented in the hope that pupils who fear they are being taken overseas for an arranged marriage can hide the spoons in their underwear. This will then trigger airport metal detectors and allow students to raise the alarm with security staff privately.

Harinder Kaur, the social, culture and ethos leader at the academy said the spoons would “save lives.”

Ms Kaur said that 80% of UK forced marriages happened abroad during the summer holidays, making it peak time for parents to take daughters abroad to be married.