Vulnerable siblings who faced being split up in Blackpool foster care have now been separated

'Abigail', five, 'Zoe', three, and 'William', two, were taken into care in March, and were sent to live with their 69-year-old paternal grandfather.*

They were then placed with a foster couple, where they remained until early October when one of their carers suffered a heart attack, and they were moved to emergency accommodation. From there, they were sent to live with another foster couple, who also became unable to look after them due to health troubles.

It was suggested that Abigail would be split up from her sister and brother and sent to live in Manchester due to a lack of available foster carers in Blackpool.

READ: Vulnerable siblings may be split up and packed off to Manchester as Blackpool Council cannot find anyone to look after themNow, their grandmother said, the siblings have indeed been separated - but will remain living in their home town for the foreseeable future.

"On Thursday I received a phonecall to say the kids had been put into care with someone else. I asked if they were together, and they said no," she said. "'There was nothing we could do' was what I was told.

"At least they are still in Blackpool - that's something.

"I don't know where to go from here. I think it's disgusting that they have been put through all this yet again. I'm just devastated for them.

"These kids have been pulled from pillar to post and I just feel sorry for them. They have got no stability at all in their lives. It's like they are just another number. I can't imagine what must be going through their little heads.

"I would like to see them all together, because at the end of the day I simply don't agree with them being separated. They have always been together. Social services are trying to say it's in Abigail's best interests, but I don't buy that at all."

*Names have been changed to protect the children's identities

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