Supporters of an Afghan couple, detained by police after a raid on a mosque in the West Midlands, have won an injunction to prevent their immediate deportation.

Farid and Feriba Ahmadi were detained by officers in riot gear who forced their way into the Ghausia Jamia Mosque in Lye, near Stourbridge, on Thursday morning.

The couple and their two children, who were with friends, had been facing deportation on Friday.

The raid prompted protests by up to 40 young men outside Lye police station and there were a number of people detained.

Farid and Feriba Ahmadi fled the Taliban in 2000

The police action has been heavily criticised by the family's supporters and Muslim groups.

A Home Office spokesman said the department was "aware of the sensitivities" but was left with "no option".

The spokesman said the Ahmadi family had to return to Germany, which was the first EU state in which they arrived.

The family had sought refuge in the mosque for 28 days, after immigration officials started deportation proceedings.

Mr Ahmadi, 33, and his wife, 24, are thought to be in a detention centre at Heathrow Airport.

Their children Hadia, six, and, Seear, four, are in hiding with friends of the family.

Dr Ghayasuddin Siddiqui, leader of the self-styled Muslim Parliament of Great Britain said: "I don't think the police would have gone in wearing riot gear if these people had been taking refuge in a church or chapel," he said.

"How did they dare to enter a place of worship in that kind of gear?

"This was very inhumane and insensitive.

"If they wanted to arrest these people they could have done so in a simple, quiet way, after seeking the co-operation of the mosque committee and imam."

'Family upset'

Hajikhadim Hussein, an elder at the mosque, said morning prayers had just finished when the raid occurred.

"I think very badly of this morning - the way they caught them and broke the door of the mosque.

"If they were coming and talking with the mosque committee maybe we could have found some way.

"This family are very, very upset. They have no home in Afghanistan and no family. They think they are not safe there."

A Home Office spokesman said: "We are aware of the sensitivity of entering a mosque and the decision was not taken lightly.

"But we believe we had no option."

Smuggled illegally

The Ahmadi family have been living in Lye near Stourbridge for the past year after fleeing the Taleban.

They were smuggled illegally into the UK from Germany on the back of a lorry after leaving Afghanistan.

The family does not want to return to Germany because it says it suffered racial abuse there.