A NORTH-EAST father who was told by a county court judge he could only contact his daughter by sending her six letters a year has won permission to challenge the order.

The father from Sunderland, who cannot be named for legal reasons, went to the Court of Appeal in the hope of eventually being able to see his five-year-old daughter.

Lord Justice Wall said the girl's mother, from Northampton, did not want her father to see her until the youngster could decide for herself whether she wanted contact.

When the father battled for access at Northampton County Court in July this year, a judge ruled he could only send the girl six letters a year.

Yesterday, the Appeal Court gave him permission to appeal, saying his ambitions to see his daughter were "modest" and the question of future access had to be addressed.

Lord Justice Wall said it had been reported by a court welfare officer that the mother had made inaccurate claims to the daughter to explain her father's absence.

He added: "The explanation the mother gave was that the father was unwell and would not behave himself. There is no evidence of this were he to have direct access."

No date was set for the appeal.