Brian, 45, said: ‘By then I’d stopped smoking completely and hadn’t had a real cigarette in months. I was using e-cigarettes as a cessation aid, to ease the nicotine cravings.’

The social worker warned them the council did not allow smokers to adopt young children, although she was unclear about its position with e-cigarette users.

The next day, she revealed that the council would not place a child with anyone who had used e-cigarettes in the previous 12 months either.