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Louise Thomas
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Kirstie Allsopp has reacted furiously after she was allegedly questioned by social services for allowing her 15-year-old son to go interrailing across Europe without adult supervision.
The Location, Location, Location star sparked a minor debate last week after she revealed that her son Oscar Hercules was back home after three weeks of travelling with a friend, aged 16.
Some social media users argued that 15 was “too young” to be travelling without a responsible adult, while others called the backlash “bonkers” as they recalled their own experiences of travelling solo or with friends as teenagers.
Allsopp, 52, confirmed that Oscar had returned “safe and sound and having had a great time”.
However, she now claims that she was contacted by a social worker who informed her that a file had been opened after child protection concerns were raised over Oscar’s trip.
The social worker apparently asked to know what “safeguards” had been put in place while he was travelling the continent for three weeks, the Mail on Sunday reports.
An “incandescent” Allsopp then said it was none of the official’s business and that she was ending the call.
Allsopp was allegedly told that her local council, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, could keep the file open “in case there was another referral and we needed to come to your house and look into this further”.
She said she had a second call with another RBKC official who said she would have to contact their data protection team in order to see whether they would agree to delete the file.
The Independent has contacted the Royal Borough for Kensington and Chelsea for comment.
Speaking to the MoS, the TV star branded the message as “Orwellian” and “absolutely outrageous”.
“I just felt sick, absolutely sick,” she told the publication. “Then I was cross. I was very, very cross. It was just so extraordinary. I was in a parallel universe where they were actually taking this seriously.”
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Allsopp said she hadn’t broken any laws and there was “nothing about allowing my child to travel around Europe [that was] neglectful”.
She claimed that she was instead the target of a “malicious” complaint by someone falsely alleging neglect.
The RBKC told the Mail: “Safeguarding children is an absolute priority. We take any referral we have very seriously and we have a statutory responsibility for children under 18 years of age.”
Allsopp had earlier revealed that Oscar travelled around Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Berlin, Munich, Marseille, Toulouse, Barcelona and Madrid during his trip by train.
“For obvious budget reasons interrailing isn’t on the cards for everyone, but in this increasingly risk averse world it’s vital that we find any ways we can to give our children the confidence that only comes from trusting them,” she told her 433,000 followers on X/Twitter.
“Of course I missed spending the summer with our son, but I’m so proud of him and my loss is nothing compared to his gain and the encyclopaedic knowledge he now has of the differences between one McDonalds and another.”
