Children cannot consent to transgender treatment, a nurse bringing a landmark legal case has said, claiming that many are autistic, homosexual or just confused.

Susan Evans, 62, a former psychiatric nurse at the Tavistock and Portman NHS foundation trust, said that “experimental” and “invasive medical treatment” should be prevented in order to protect children.

She is working with a woman known as ‘Mrs A’ the mother of an autistic 15-year-old girl who is on the Gids waiting list

Later this week, the pair will lodge legal papers at the High Court in order to commence proceedings in a judicial review against the trust and NHS England. Their legal team will argue that the provision of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones at the Tavistock for those under 18 is illegal because children cannot give valid consent to the treatment.

However transgender children’s charities have criticised the case, saying that children should not be denied the right to make decisions about their own bodies, simply because they are trans.