A grandmother adopted after the war won a landmark court ruling on Friday that could force adoption agencies to be more open with their records.

Linda Gunn-Russo won a Court battle for access to confidential information about her adoption over 50 years ago so she can "complete the picture of her life"

The NCS, a Catholic-run children's society founded in 1881, had insisted that its policy was to withhold records that either the birth parents or the adoptive parents wanted to remain confidential. But the judge said the agency had not exercised the "wide discretion" it had under the adoption regulations to disclose material on an individual case.

The judge in the case said: "The NCS should look again at their general policy and consider whether it operates too rigidly against disclosure."

The 1975 Children Act gave adoptees over the age of 18 the right to obtain the names of their birth parents. Adoption agencies have, since then, increasingly tried to give adoptees more information about their birth parents and have encouraged them to stay in touch.

Joanne Sawyer, the legal officer from the civil rights group Liberty, which took on Ms Gunn-Russo's case, said it was an important verdict that should "strengthen the principle of people's right to know. It will encourage adoption agencies to consider each person's circumstances individually."