A young Briton who accused her father of keeping her 'caged' in Saudi Arabia for kissing a boy has ended her bid for freedom - but a judge has refused to accept it.

Amina Al-Jeffery, 21, took pictures of herself in front of metal bars at he academic father's home and accused him of throttling and starving her and keeping her locked in his home without access to a bathroom.

Her plea for freedom made it to the High Court last month where a judge ordered she be delivered back to the UK within six weeks - but the deadline has passed.

Yesterday the High Court heard Amina had written an email saying she wanted 'withdraw my charges and end this case'.

'Caged': Amina Al-Jeffery, 21, took pictures of herself in front of metal bars at he academic father's home and accused him of throttling and starving her

U-turn: Amina, left, wanted the chance back to the UK - six weeks on she has changed her mind - and Mr Justice Holman, right, says a lawyer will go to see her and check it is true

The document read to the court said she and her father Mohammed, 63, had been 'building our trust' and that she wishes to stay in Saudi Arabia to 'work on my relationship with my father and get my life back on track'.

But sitting judge Mr Justice Holman said he could not 'give up' on the 21-year-old from Swansea, and her lawyer is now set to go to Saudi Arabia to check the veracity of the claims.

Mr Justice Holman said he believed that a visit by Miss Al-Jeffery's solicitor Anne-Marie Hutchinson 'is the only way to get to the bottom of this matter'.

Her father, Saudi academic Mohammed Al-Jeffery, disputed her allegations and said he was trying to protect her.

On August 3 Mr Justice Holman said her father had to 'permit and facilitate' his daughter's return to England or Wales by September 11.

She has not returned and a further hearing was held before the judge on Tuesday when he was given an update on the current situation.

He was told that Miss Hutchinson, a partner at London law firm Dawson Cornwell, was prepared to make the trip to Saudi Arabia to talk to Miss Al-Jeffery at a private meeting about her wishes, and to ensure 'as best she can that any decisions taken by Amina are informed'.

Ruling: Miss Al-Jeffery, pictured in a school photo, was born and raised in Swansea until her father took her to the Middle East when she was 16, and was supposed to have returned by Sunday

The judge said Miss Hutchinson was concerned, on the basis of all of the material in her possession, that Miss Al-Jeffery's position appeared to be 'equivocal', and the solicitor 'wishes to make further inquiries'.

The judge said there had been a 'significant development' in the case on September 12 when Miss Hutchinson and other colleagues at her firm 'received an email which comes from what is known to be the email address of Amina'.

He added that it 'does not follow of course that Amina sent the email'. A document was attached described as 'Amina's statement' to be submitted to the court.

Mr Justice Holman said that on the 'face of it' the language of the statement sent from her email was 'clear and unequivocal'.

But the view of her lawyers, taking into account other material, was that her position appeared to them to be 'equivocal'.

The judge added: 'It seems to me in this situation that there is only one efficient, effective and reliable way for all of us, and ultimately myself - this court - to get to the truth of the matter, and that is for Miss Hutchinson to be enabled to have a direct face-to-face meeting with Amina with no-one else present in the room.'

The judge said it would be 'wrong of this court simply to give up on Amina at this stage and bring these proceedings to an end'.

It was hoped that by the time of the next hearing in late October there could be 'clarity in this case'.

He said he was 'immensely grateful' to Miss Hutchinson for her 'personal preparedness' to make the journey to Saudi Arabia.