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Alleged proposals to allow Egyptian husbands to legally have sex with their dead wives for up to six hours after their death have been branded a 'complete nonsense'.

The controversial new 'farewell intercourse' law was claimed, in Arab media, to be part of a raft of measures being introduced by the Islamist-dominated parliament.

They reported it would also see the minimum age of marriage lowered to 14 and the ridding of women's rights of getting education and employment.

Controversial: The 'farewell intercourse' law is 'a complete nonsense', according to sources

But sources inside the Egyptian Embassy in London have said the claims were 'completely false', 'forbidden in Islam' and 'could never imagine it happening'.

The source said the proposal, if it even existed, had not reached the parliament - although it was also admitted it could be the work of an extremist politician.

Although not officially rebutted, the claims that someone inside Egypt could introduce such a law provoked widespread scepticism.