Growing numbers of people with learning difficulties are ending up in forced marriages, according to a Government watchdog.

Experts believe families are marrying off disabled relatives as a way of ensuring they have a long-term carer or, in some cases, to make money from immigration scams.

The situation, as reported by Radio 4’s Face the Facts programme, has led 50 councils to sign up to new guidelines designed to tackle the problem.

The Government’s Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) said it had received a “growing number of referrals” involving adults with learning difficulties.

Mark Goldring, chief executive of charity Mencap, said the issue was vastly underestimated.

He told the programme: “We know that there are many more (cases) where somebody is at real risk.

”Because the marriage often takes place outside this country, it’s not until it’s done that many of the wider community will actually get to know about it.

”Public awareness and the officials’ awareness is massively under-reported.”

Face the Facts reported that while some cases were “immigration scams”, the main driver was concerned parents wanting to find a carer for their disabled child.

One theory was that people with learning difficulties were, for the first time, routinely outliving their parents.

Under the Mental Capacity Act 2005, it is unlawful to consent for someone else to marry or to have sex, so well-meaning parents are breaking the law.

One mother in her 50s whose 33-year-old son has learning difficulties told the programme she had found him a wife in Pakistan.

”I’m actually getting old and I’m finding it difficult to care for my son because I care for him 24 hours,” she said.

”Maybe when the daughter-in-law will come she’ll look after my son, because he wants everything on time, his food and everything, his clothes.

”It’ll give me relief because I know she’s there to support him and help him.

”But we’ve not told anybody here that he’s engaged.”

Marrying off relatives with learning difficulties may lessen the stigma a family feels and can enhance other siblings’ wedding prospects.

Some even believe marriage can cure disability, the show said.

While families may think it is in a disabled person’s best interests to marry, experts point out these partnerships can end disastrously and leave their loved-one vulnerable to exploitation.

Expert Kay Ahmed from Manchester told the programme one family married off their disabled daughter three times to men from Pakistan for money.

The FMU is now working with the social services directors to look deeper into the problem.

More mental capacity assessments on people that the FMU consider may be at risk of being forced into a marriage will be held and dozens of local authorities will step up their procedures.

The Face The Facts programme is broadcast at 12.30pm today and at 9pm on Sunday on Radio 4.