A desperate mother says police have refused to stop her 15-year-old daughter living with a 26-year-old father-of-five.

Suzanne Woolvern says she is worried sick about her daughter Victoria Pilkington, who has been living with unemployed Jack Moore in Surrey since she ran away from home six weeks ago.

Despite Mrs Woolvern's pleas to the police for help to bring her daughter home to Rossmore Close in Pound Hill, Crawley, they decided not to use their statutory powers to return her.

Det Insp David McCullogh said a decision had been made that Victoria was 'not at risk of significant harm' and said police were liaising with Surrey Social Services over the issue of Victoria's welfare.

He is earlier reported to have said: "There is legislation to stop a person taking a child out of the care and control of a parent. But we would be jobsworths if we compromised the objective of the law by exercising it."

Mrs Woolvern, 45, said the family were not aware Victoria knew Mr Moore until March 24 when she ran away from the family home to be with him.

She said friends of her daughter told her Victoria had been seeing Mr Moore, who was working in the local Co-op at the time, for six weeks and Victoria has told her mother she and Mr Moore are in love.

Mrs Woolvern said: "She ran away from home to be with him because when we found out she was seeing him we asked her to sit down and talk about it."

Victoria, who is due to start her GCSE exams at Oriel High School in Maidenbower, Crawley, next week, was reported missing to police by her worried mother.

She was traced to Mr Moore's mother's address in Bletchingly, Surrey, and her parents took her home. But she ran away again and now Mrs Woolvern says her daughter and Mr Moore are no longer living with his mother but at a flat across the road.

She said: "We tried to reason with her and told her she is nearly 16 and that if Jack's intentions are honourable and he loves her, then he will wait for her until she is 16.

"Before she left home she had impeccable manners and she would go to school and always do her homework. But she has not been to school since she left home.

"She would never leave home without straightening her hair or wearing make-up, not even to go to the shop to get me a pint of milk, and now she is not wearing any make-up at all."

She said she believes Victoria thought Jack was about 18 when she first met him because he looks young.

She said her daughter has applied to sixth form college at Oriel High and had said she hoped to study law and university. Headteacher Gill Smith said the school had no comment to make.

Mrs Woolvern said: "He already has five children and I am just waiting for the next bombshell when she tells me she's pregnant.

"The whole situation is unbelievable and she deserves better than what she's got. I just want to give her the best chance in life."

A Surrey County Council spokeswoman said: "Our direct involvement only began when Sussex social services informed us on April 18 that the couple had moved into Surrey.

"We are trying to mediate between Victoria and her mother and persuade her to continue with her education and return home. However, we have no statutory power to make her do so."