Ghislaine Maxwell has proposed a $28.5m (£21m) bail package in a bid to be freed from jail this year.

The bail arrangements for Jeffrey Epstein's former girlfriend would come with armed guards to ensure she stays safe and does not flee a New York residence.

In a bail application filed with the US District Court in Manhattan, Maxwell said she and her husband would post a $22.5m (£16.5m) bond towards bail, secured by all their assets, with most of the remaining funds coming from friends and family.

The 58-year-old British socialite is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn, New York.

She was arrested in an FBI raid at her secluded New Hampshire home in July over claims she played a central role in procuring underage girls for Epstein to abuse in the mid-1990s.

Letters from family and friends supported the bail arguments, claiming Maxwell sought seclusion in December 2019 because of death threats and fears of being found by the public and media.

A security specialist, who offered to contribute one million dollars (£750,000) toward the bail package and to provide security for Maxwell if she is released, said she retreated into a back room of her residence when the FBI approached because she thought reporters had found her.

Her husband was not identified in court papers, but a financial report among the exhibits revealed that they have been married since 2016 and that most of Maxwell's assets are in a trust controlled by her spouse.

In a letter to support the bail request, he said Maxwell left her family and dropped out of public view, not because she was avoiding law enforcement, but because of "the intense media frenzy and threats following the arrest and death of Jeffrey Epstein".

Lawyers said she is not a flight risk, despite media that have "ruthlessly vilified her and prejudged her guilt" in more articles than the comedian Bill Cosby and movie producer Harvey Weinstein got after their arrests.

"Ms Maxwell vehemently maintains her innocence and is committed to defending herself," the lawyers wrote.

Maxwell proposed living under home confinement with an acquaintance in New York City, with 24-hour security and electronic surveillance.

She also agreed to waive extradition from the United Kingdom and France, where she holds citizenships, in a bid to alleviate concerns that she would flee New York.

A spokesperson for prosecutors declined to comment.

Maxwell is due to face trial in July on charges that she recruited three teenage girls for Epstein to abuse in the mid-1990s. She denies the charges.