ITN | April 23, 2009

A woman who removed her elderly mother from a care home amid worries over her health was shocked to see police and social workers on her doorstep with a battering ram ready to snatch her back.

Rosalind Figg was concerned about the treatment her elderly mother was receiving and took her home to look after her personally.

But social workers in Coventry disagreed with her actions and used a little-known power to take her back.

They obtained an emergency warrant from magistrates under the Mental Health Act on the grounds that a "person believed to be suffering from a mental disorder is being ill treated and neglected".

Two days later they turned up at Mrs Figg's Keresley home with police in tow as back up.

Mrs Figg was forced to hand over her distraught 86-year-old mother Betty who was wheeled to a car with a blanket over her head and returned to Butts Croft House.

A police spokesman said: "Police were asked to assist social services to remove an elderly woman to a place of safety.

"A warrant was granted and an enforcer was taken in order to gain access to the property if needed. The enforcer was not used."