FUGITIVE couple Jeff and Jenny Bramley could face charges of abduction over foster children Jade and Hannah Bennett.

Police who questioned the couple about their 17 weeks on the run have compiled a file which will be sent to the Crown Prosecution Service.

Last night the couple claimed social services had left them with no option but to disappear with Jade, five, and Hannah, three, when they were told they could not adopt the girls.

''The only thing we felt we could do was to leave with the children,'' they said in a statement issued through their solicitor. ''But as soon as we heard that the social services would allow the court to take an independent look at what was best for the children we arranged through a relative and our solicitor to return.''

Insisting they had not led a ''nomadic lifestyle'', but had been ''on holiday in Ireland'', they set out their case for keeping the girls.

''We are now in a safe place. The children are well and happy and we are confident that the facts - that we are very much a family with two confident, secure and stable children - will become clear,'' the statement said.

CPS officials should receive the police file in seven days and will decide whether to prosecute after studying the allegations against them, said Detective Superintendent John Cummins, of Cambridge Police, who is heading the inquiry.

However, the couple look set to remain with the children while the High Court considers their application to adopt the girls.

At a private hearing today judge Mrs Justice Hogg will decide who should have custody of the girls while adoption proceedings go through the courts.

She is likely to rule in the Bramleys' favour after social workers, who still oppose the adoption, said they had no objection to the family staying together during the hearings, which could take months.

Postal worker Mr Bramley and his wife, both 35, gave themselves up at Essex's Stansted Airport on Saturday after flying in from the Irish Republic. They were immediately questioned by police before being allowed to spend the night with Jade and Hannah at a secret location.

The pair were interviewed separately at a Cambridgeshire police station yesterday afternoon under a formal caution and with a solicitor present.

They were then allowed to return to their foster daughters at the secret address.

The girls were examined by a doctor, who declared them ''physically fine and in good spirits''.

The fight for the girls has been complicated further by Jade's natural father, Mr Paul Duckett, announcing that he wants to be her ''forever daddy''.

The 24-year-old businessman's comment, issued from his home in Northampton, was a deliberate echo of a message delivered by the Bramleys via the press last week, in which they said they wanted to be the girls' ''forever mummy and daddy''.

Mr Duckett said: ''I would like to stress that I would like to be an active part of my daughter's life. I would like the same rights as any other natural parent to see their child grow up, going to school, making friends, and helping them to learn by their mistakes.''

He rejected suggestions that he abandoned Jade and her natural mother, Jackie Bennett, shortly after their daughter's birth, claiming it was Miss Bennett who had abandoned their home and taken the girl with her.

He said he would be applying to the court for permission to see Jade, and hoped that he would be supported by social services.

Friends and family of the Bramleys were yesterday united in relief that they had returned.

Family friend Geoff Barnes, 60, said: ''There is a feeling that what Jeff and Jenny did was very courageous.

''I can't say whether it was right, but it showed the strength of their love for the children. People feel they should be allowed to stay together.''