Visitors claiming to be relatives of the 14-year-old were not arrested by police.

A number of people claiming to be relatives of teenage Taliban victim Malala Yousafzai have been blocked from visiting her in the Birmingham hospital where she is being treated for gunshot wounds.

The 14-year-old, who was shot in the head by Taliban militia for campaigning for education for women, is receiving treatment at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

She was airlifted from Pakistan, where the attack took place, and police say she was visited by two well-wishers overnight.

However a spokesperson added that the well-wishers "were stopped in a public area of the hospital and questioned by police, who recorded their details and advised the pair that they would not be allowed to see her.

"No arrests were made and at no point was there any threat to Malala."

Dr Dave Rosser, medical director at the hospital, had earlier said that the visitors were arrested - but this was subsequently denied.

Dr Rosser said: "Clearly, it is a police issue but I understand that a number of people turned up claiming to be members of Malala's family, which we don't believe to be true, and have been arrested.

"We don't believe there is any threat to her personal security - we think it's probably people being over-curious."

The hospital also says it has received a great deal of queries from the public who want to send cards to the schoolgirl. They are currently setting up facilities to deal with donations and cards, and are urging people not to send anything until they have provided an address.

Malala is currently being treated by a number of specialist doctors, including clinicians from Neurosurgery, Imaging, Trauma and Therapies. She spent a "comfortable night" at hospital and is in a stable condition.

The Taliban has threatened to target Malala again. Explaining why she was attacked, spokesperson Ehsanullah Ehsan said: "[Malala] was pro-West, she was speaking against Taliban and she was calling President Obama her ideal leader.

"She was young but she was promoting Western culture in Pashtun areas."

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