A COUPLE have seen their grand-daughter for what could be the last time after losing a bid to adopt her.

The 70-year-old man and his 58- year-old wife from Shoebury, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had their potentially last meeting with their three-year-old granddaughter last week.

The couple started looking after their grand-daughter in January when the girl’s mother was hospitalised with mental health issues, but then Southend Council moved to get the girl adopted, which the mother supported.

The grandparents have lodged an appeal against that ruling and spent the day with the little girl last Thursday.

Speaking about the day, the grandfather said: “It was very difficult to think this could be the last time we see her, particularly for my wife.

“My granddaughter enjoyed playing and we interacted with her with different little things, and she did some drawing, which she likes to do.

“It was a difficult time but the worst thing was we weren’t permitted to take photos on this particular visit, which we’d always been able to do before, without any explanation – I thought that was a bit mean.

“Our solicitor has applied for an appeal, though, so we’re hoping it isn’t the last time – during the period of the appeal, contact would resume, so we should be able to go back to having one meeting a week.”

The couple had previously claimed they were dubbed too old by social services to look after the young girl, but court papers show the girl’s mother did not want the grandparents to get custody and concerns were raised about the grandmother’s own battle with depression.

The grandad added: “There’s no real reason why she shouldn’t come and live with us – she’s always been happy to come and stay with us and we feel we can do it.

“We’ve done it for three years and we had her here for fairly long periods at times – we’re familiar with each other and we get on.

“What worries me is that she’s very aware of things and she has a good memory – she remembers things from six months ago, which is worrying.

“It’s difficult to say for certain, but it does cross your mind that this is doing her harm in some way.”

A Family Division hearing at Chelmsford County Court in June ruled they were unsuitable to care for her.