London: Britons wishing to wed a non-EU citizen abroad should be made to register their intentions with the government beforehand, the country's opposition Conservatives said Sunday, arguing the law would help stop forced marriages and control immigration.

Men and women hoping to marry foreigners abroad would have to turn in an "intention to marry notification" complete with the details of their future spouse under the proposal.

Marriages to EU citizens would not be affected. The Conservative party said it was consulting with members of the public to determine how those who defied the rules would be treated.

Conservative lawmaker Damian Green argued paperwork would deter parents from taking their children on vacation and forcing them to marry in a foreign country.

Men and women from Britain's immigrant communities are sometimes taken to isolated communities abroad under false pretenses and forced to marry by authoritarian families.

The Foreign Office says it deals with about 250-300 such cases a year, although officials and campaigners believe that many more go unreported.

Green warned that the practice was "a stain on our social fabric."

The Conservatives, who are trailing the ruling Labour party in the polls, have promoted a series of plans to restrict immigration into Britain.