The Location, Location, Location presenter, 52, mentioned she allowed her 15-year-old son, Oscar, to go interrailing throughout Europe along with his 16-year-old buddy this summer time however had since been contacted by a social employee who knowledgeable her {that a} file had been opened after baby safety issues have been raised.
Allsopp mentioned officers didn’t perceive that she had been focused by somebody falsely alleging neglect.
She instructed The Mail on Sunday: “I simply felt sick – completely sick. Then I used to be cross. I used to be very, very cross.
“It was simply so extraordinary. I used to be in a parallel universe the place they have been really taking this critically.
“I’ve damaged no regulation and nothing about permitting my baby to journey round Europe is neglectful.”
Allsopp mentioned she was not instructed how the referral had been made or by whom, with the social employee insisting each referral have to be appeared into and questioning what safeguards have been put in place for her son’s journey.
In addition they confirmed a file had been opened on Oscar, and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC), her native council, might preserve the file open “in case there was one other referral and we would have liked to come back to your home and look into this additional”.
Fixed chats with mates, and on-line, about how a lot all of us travelled unaccompanied; to high school, to grandparents, to pen friends, to babysitting gigs, now it’s all 😱 what the heck has occurred? Is that this all 24 hour information? As a result of the stats are very clear, journey is safer than ever.
— Kirstie Allsopp (@KirstieMAllsopp) August 25, 2024
She instructed the Mail: “For me, that was the sucker punch – the thought this file may proceed present.
“What (the official) mentioned to me was, ‘if in six months there was one other referral and we would have liked to come back to your home and look into this additional, it could be vital that we had saved a be aware of the primary referral’.
“That was the Orwellian second. The very fact it was maliciously accomplished wasn’t coming dwelling to her.”
A spokesperson for RBKC mentioned: “Safeguarding youngsters is an absolute precedence. We take any referral we obtain very critically and we’ve got a statutory duty for kids underneath 18 years of age.”
Allsopp acquired blended reactions after revealing the choice on-line earlier this week, with some criticising her for letting him go whereas others praised the transfer.
She wrote in a submit on X: “For apparent funds causes, inter-railing isn’t on the playing cards for everybody, however on this more and more risk-averse world it’s very important that we discover any methods we will to present our youngsters the arrogance that solely comes from trusting them.
“In fact I missed spending the summer time with our son, however I’m so happy with him & my loss is nothing in comparison with his achieve & the encyclopaedic information he now has of the variations between one McDonalds & one other, if we’re afraid our youngsters will even be afraid, if we let go, they may fly.”