"My friend Sarah is white and we're both around the same age and single," she says.

"But the difference is I want to find someone of the same faith, so I have a much smaller choice of men." It's not just religion that Samina has to contend with.

Other men choose to marry a partner from their parents country of origin.

In 2005 the government recorded just over 10,000 women coming to the UK from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh as part of a marriage.

For British Asian females, who are facing a shrinking pool of eligible men, Bridget Jones had it easy.