A set of Grimsby grandparents have won their fight to get their grandchildren to live with them after they were taken into care and away from their drug dealing father.

The children, whose father is in jail following the massive Operation Troop crackdown on heroin dealers, now live with their grandparents.

They were originally taken into care four years ago after concerns were raised to social services they were being exposed to drugs and drug dealing.

Their mother at that time was also addicted to drugs. She still lives in the Grimsby area and the children still see her on occasions.

Their grandparents tell their story as North East Lincolnshire Council reveals the number of people coming forward to adopt has fallen to an all-time low.

The family cannot be identified for legal reasons but the grandparents explain how they spent weeks going through all of the correct channels and taking time off work before they were allowed to let their daughter's children move in with them.

The grandfather said: "We were working down in the south of the country when we got a telephone call to say they had been taken into care. We rushed home and contacted social services to find out what had happened.

"We said we wanted them to live with us, and we went through all the correct procedures which took a couple of months.
"We were told they had been taken into care because social services were concerned about them being around drug dealing and walking the streets on their own.
"At the end of the day everything has been in the childrens' best interests."

Both said they hadn't got any time for the children's father because of the drugs.

"I have not got the time of day for him because he is a drug dealer. It ruins people's lives."
"He is just an out and out druggie," the grandfather said.

The two youngsters are very happy living with their grandparents and are as cheerful and settled as any of their classmates.

However, they are the fortunate ones. Last year NELC placed 26 children up for adoption and in the six months between April and October this year a further 21 children were adopted.

It can take anything from six months to a year to become an adopter and until now there have always been around 20 adopters in the pipeline across the county. Currently there are just six still being processed and only 10 expressions of interest.

NELC is committed to identifying 50 per cent more adoptive families by 2004.

Penny Sheardon, who heads the Learning and Childcare Directorate's Adoption Service, said: "We really need local people to come forward and consider adopting children. I have never seen such a dramatic drop in the number of people expressing an interest in adoption."