A boy aged seven has been removed from his mother’s care following concerns that she was forcing him to live “life entirely as a girl”.

Mr Justice Hayden said the woman had caused her son “significant emotional harm” after becoming “absolutely convinced” that the youngster “perceived himself as a girl” and was determined that he should be a girl.

Complaints from the father prompted a three-year legal battle, the details of which emerged yesterday in the judgment of the Family Division of the High Court in London.

The boy’s parents had separated some years ago but after the courts became aware the father was being denied contact a “wide ranging” inquiry was ordered and local authority social services staff had begun investigations.

“[His mother] told me that [he] was ‘living in stealth’, by which was meant, she explained, that he was living life entirely as a girl,” said Mr Justice Hayden in the written ruling.

“He dressed, at all times, like a girl and, it transpired, had been registered at a new general practitioner’s as a girl.”

The judge added: “I was also left in no doubt that [the mother] was absolutely convinced that [the boy] perceived himself as a girl.”