A Sudanese embassy official has described the detention of a British teacher as a "minute" matter that would be resolved quickly.

Gillian Gibbons, a 54-year-old teacher at the Unity High School in Khartoum, was detained on Sunday after parents complained that she had let her young students name a teddy bear Mohammad.

If convicted of insulting Islam, she could be sentenced to 40 lashes, six months in prison or a fine, lawyers said.

Dr Khalid al Mubarak, a spokesman for the Sudanese embassy in London, said the police had no choice but to follow procedure following a complaint from a parent, but added that the "minute" issue would be resolved amicably.

He said: "The police is bound to investigate just as is the case in any country in which there is rule of law.

"Our relationship with Britain is so good that we wouldn't like such a minute event to be overblown."

He added: "I am pretty certain that this minute incident will be clarified very quickly and this teacher who has been helping us with the teaching of children will be safe and will be cleared."

Asked about the potential punishments of six-months jail or 40 lashes, he said: "I hope people will not give their imagination free rein to think about such things.

"That is based on the premise that a person will be charged and the person will be after that condemned and then the judgment has to be passed.

"But these are all steps ahead of us and my impression is that the whole thing could probably be settled amicably long before we reach stages like these."

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Tuesday that efforts were being made to release her "soon".

He said: "Our embassy in Khartoum is giving all appropriate assistance to her.

"We have been in contact with, and will continue to be in contact with, the Sudanese police authorities and the Sudanese government to make sure that we can ascertain that she is safe and well and to clarify the position so that she can be released soon."

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