A father has been left heartbroken after the mother of his twin daughters was given the go ahead to take them to her native Argentina to start a new life.

Veronica Gurney, 47, from Harrogate, North Yorkshire, was refused permission to take the twin girls, now aged five, to South America following a hearing at the local county court in October last year.

But Appeal Court judge, Lord Justice Thorpe, sitting with Lady Justice Smith in London, has now reversed that decision - dismissing as "groundless" the Simon Gurney's plea that the girls would forget how to speak English, making future contact impossible.

The couple divorced in 2001 and Mrs Gurney said she wanted to go home but the move was blocked by last October's ruling, when the County Court judge raised suspicions that she may want to leave the country to sever contact between the children and their father.Eleanor Hamilton QC, said that Mrs Gurney - who receives £1,100 per-month in maintenance from her ex-husband - was prepared to forgo £500 of that so he could afford to travel to South America to visit his daughters.

Agreeing to overturn the County Court judge's decision, Lord Justice Thorpe said: "These children have been, from their earliest year, brought up bilingually.

"The security of their English at the age of nearly five and-a-half is assured."

The judge ordered the mother must not leave the country until issues including schooling and access rights, had been resolved.

Lord Justice Thorpe also took the unusual step of not imposing reporting restrictions in the case, citing the fact the youngsters will soon be moving to Buenos Aires.