The grandparents of a three-year-old girl have been blocked from adopting her because they are ‘too old’, it emerged last night.

They had been left in charge of the child after her mother – who has a history of mental health problems – was sectioned.

But the youngster, their only grandchild, was taken away from them and handed to foster parents.

Cuddles: The three-year-old girl, left, with her grandmother, right, (faces have been pixelated for legal reasons)

The adoption will go ahead on July 31 unless they win the right to appeal.

The grandmother, 58, and grandfather, 70, have even been told by social workers to mark the occasion with a ‘party’ and bring a cake – a suggestion they described as ‘insulting’.

If the appeal fails the only contact they will have with their granddaughter is two letters they are allowed to send each year until she is 18.

Their daughter will be allowed to see photos of her once a year but cannot keep copies.

Last night the ‘emotionally traumatised’ grandmother, a shop assistant, said: ‘I don’t feel old at all. I work two days a week. It’s just awful they could take her away from us.

‘It is devastating and so silly. Women have children older and older these days anyway.’

Close: The little girl with her grandfather in a pirate hat. The retired firefighter says the family has been 'kicked in the teeth'

The grandfather, a retired firefighter, described his family’s treatment as ‘wicked’ and said he was amazed it could happen ‘in a civilised society’.

‘We would be 100 per cent capable of caring for her and we would be over the moon to have her,' he said.

We have been kicked in the teeth by social workers. It is shocking they have that much power to take a family apart Grandfather, 70, retired firefighter

‘But we have been kicked in the teeth by social workers. It is shocking they have that much power to take a family apart.’

Many women older than 58 have become mothers around the world and Britain’s oldest mother, Sue Tollefsen, gave birth to her only child, Freya, in 2008 when she was 57.

The girl at the centre of the adoption wrangle, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was born to the couple’s daughter, who is now in her 30s and is no longer in a relationship with the girl’s father. The child’s mother was sectioned in January after self-harming.

One week later, a social worker appeared at the grandparents’ home in Shoeburyness, Essex, demanding they hand the child over.

They did not see her again until March and even then were allowed to see her only once a week.

The grandfather said: ‘A social worker came round saying she’d come to pick up her clothes because they were taking her into foster care.

Southend-on-Sea Borough Council (pictured above) has put the child up for adoption and a lawyer who has taken on the case expressed concern that workers were 'pursuing adoption targets that generate income'

'We didn’t know what was going on but they’d applied for a court order with a view to adoption.’

The social worker showed them a form which they have since learned the mother had been persuaded to sign from her specialist mental health hospital bed – with no legal representative present – consenting to her daughter being taken into care.

THE BIAS OF SOCIAL WORKERS: GRANDPARENTS' BATTLE TO BRING UP CHILDREN AND THE OBSTACLES THEY FACE Grandparents are legally allowed to bring up children in place of the parents – but can face obstacles when social workers become involved. The Children Act of 1989 says that ‘private fostering’ – which is an informal arrangement with the parents – does not need to be reported to social workers or considered by a court if the carers are close relatives, including grandparents. Grandparents can choose to go to court to get an adoption order so that they are legally responsible for their grandchild without needing the approval of a state-recognised adoption agency. They can also take out a Special Guardianship order, which means the child remains formally under control of his or her natural parents, but is legally in the everyday charge of the guardian. But if social workers are involved in the case, they can rule that the grandparents are ‘unfit’ to bring up the child – and it seems they are often quick to do so. Last year a family court judge publicly condemned social workers who he said were ‘visibly biased’ against the grandparents of a two-year-old boy. Advertisement

At Chelmsford family court on June 17, a judge ruled adoption should go ahead but the grandparents could not be candidates.

They attended court but were unable to argue their case as they could not afford legal representation.

Grandparents are not entitled to legal aid in care cases. The assessment claiming they are not suitable to care for the toddler is not available to the public.

But the Daily Mail understands it claimed the couple would be incapable of acting as her guardians when she reached adolescence.

It initially gave their ages incorrectly. The error was corrected but the judge said they were too old as the grandfather would be 82 and the grandmother 70 when the girl turned 15.

The couple said they were also accused of not caring for their own daughter properly, a claim never previously made.

A lawyer who has now taken up their case pro bono yesterday expressed concern that social workers at Southend Council were pursuing adoption targets that generate income.

Karina Chetwynd, of John Copland and Son solicitors, said: ‘In my view, adoption is a cash cow. There is a lot of money paid for each adoption and each local authority has targets.’

Miss Chetwynd is hoping to be granted the right to appeal by arguing that the grandparents’ human rights were breached and they are entitled to a fair hearing and to a family life.

Anne Jones, the Southend councillor responsible for child welfare, said: ‘Age is not the deciding factor in our assessments. We have a duty to ensure the safety and well-being of the children.