A former councillor has launched a petition calling on the Government to improve UK child protection legislation.

Lucy Allan, 47, of Putney, has launched the petition following her own experiences with Wandsworth Council's children's services department.

The former Southfields ward councillor went through hell when a child protection investigation was launched into her fitness to parent, following a bout of depression last year.

It found her a fit parent, but she was felt forced to quit her role as councillor and change her son's school after personal information about her was leaked to authorities.

She has since launched a campaign on the issue and has been on the front cover of this newspaper, as well as featured in The Daily Mail, The Times and ITV's This Morning.

Miss Allan has now been inspired to spark a debate about the role of the state in family life and she has just launched an e petition which has attracted 63 signatures so far.

The petition asks the Government for all child protection decisions to be made on evidence based fact and for parents to be informed of the case against them.

It also urges the Government not to allow families to be assessed by experts who have not met them.

Miss Allan said: "10,000 children a year in the UK are removed from their families. This is the most draconian act the state can take against an individual.

"All efforts must be made to ensure the state gets these decisions right.

"These measures will reduce the number of children wrongly removed from their families, freeing up local authority resources for the most vulnerable."

A review hearing is set to take in May following a complaint Miss Allan launched against the council.

Sign the petition on epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/33135.

Visit facebook campaign page on facebook.com/ImprovingUkChildProtectionLegislation