Labour MPs have called on the Home Office to tackle "sham marriages" used by overseas residents to secure British citizenship.

The calls for an end to the abuse of asylum rules came during a Westminster Hall debate on Wednesday.

Jon Owen Jones highlighted cases where foreign nationals married UK citizens in order to gain leave to remain, then divorced shortly after and sponsored new spouses from abroad.

The Labour MP for Cardiff Central called for the minimum age for sponsorship to be raised to 21 and backed increased tracking of applicants.

Owen Jones highlighted a case of a newly arrived husband who disappeared.

He said the police subsequently refused to take action despite the man being convicted of a criminal offence.

"These are difficult and sensitive issues which, understandably, are rarely discussed in public. But I have seen too many people in my constituency surgery, distressed and heartbroken, to see this continue any further," he said.

He was joined by Ann Cryer, the Labour MP for Keighley, who has also campaigned on immigration issues.

Cryer called for the rules on sponsorship to be changed, limiting it only to people who have received citizenship - a wait of three years.

Fellow Labour MP Paul Flynn warned that criminal gangs were exploiting the legal loopholes - charging up to £14,000 per marriage.

In one case a woman who had been refused leave to stay in Britain five times had resorted to marriage sponsorship as a way of obtaining a visa.

"This is a racket. It's advertised on the internet and solicitors are used to ensure the money changes hands," he said.

Home Office minister Beverley Hughes told MPs that the government was well aware of the problems and was taking action despite the difficulties.

Immigration enforcement teams, working with police and intelligence agencies, were having some successes but with 50,000 applications every year, problems were inevitable.

The age for sponsorship had been raised from 16 to 18 and ministers were considering raising it to 21.

"The whole question of how we enforce particular abuses in marriage is difficult," she said.

Tracking cases was difficult and Hughes said identity cards would offer a possible solution to some of the issues involved.

"One of the things that would be really helpful would be ID cards. If we can get to that point that would be one way in which many of these issues could be addressed," she said.

Hughes also warned MPs against lobbying the Home Office for exceptions from the rules for their own constituents.

"We need to take a clear view that there are people trying to abuse the system," she warned.