A DISTRAUGHT dad plans to sue Essex County Council for £100,000 because social services took his children away and won’t explain why.

The man, 54, from Basildon, said social workers called at his home in 2007 and took his two teenage sons into care.

The boys were not returned to him until 2009, after he took legal action against the council.

The dad, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said he has since been fighting for an explanation and access to the case files, which the council refuses to release.

He says all he has been told is there were allegations he wasn’t feeding his sons, which he says are completely false.

The Court of Appeal in London yesterday heard claims the county council even tried to get a gagging order to stop him contacting Basildon and Billericay MP John Baron for help.

However, he said the bid failed and he handed the court a letter from the MP backing his crusade.

He said: “They knocked on the door and said ‘your ex-wife says you are not feeding them properly’.

“They were eating better than their peers. They were both at a youth football club and trained three times a week.”

He said the club wrote to social services to confirm the boys’ health, but he was still unable to see them.

He added: “That is how social services got their foot in the door, but it was all a lie. They were not malnourished and never have been.”

He told the court he had not seen his daughter since November 2007, also due to social services.

He is involved in a separate court action over her.

Representing himself, the man has made a number of attempts in various courts to sue the county council and get access to the files.

Yesterday, the appeal was heard against a judgment at Cambridge County Court in July, which struck out his claim.

He said: “It’s a chicken and egg situation. My claims are struck out, but I can’t prove my allegations without my files. If they have got nothing to hide they would be happy for me to see all my files.

“I want permission for my documents. Until then, there is a slur against my name that I can’t get rid of.”

Lord Justice Thorpe said the previous judgment was flawed to strike out the claim against the council before considering access to the files.

However, he said it was not for the Court of Appeal to consider the “access” issue, so the appeal could not go ahead.

Outside court the dad said he would be making a fresh challenge for access to the files so he could sue the county council for £100,000 and to find out why his boys were taken away.