AN 80-year-old war veteran 'rescued' his wife of 55 years from a nursing home because he could no longer stand to be without her.

But council bosses immediately got a court order giving them legal custody of the 88-year-old woman and took her back into care.

Dennis Cramp now faces arrest if he tries to take dementia-striken Maria Cramp home again.

Today heartbroken Mr Cramp, who fought in the battle of Arnhem in Holland in 1944, said: "I feel desperate. This is so wrong. It is making me ill.

"I can't sleep, I have no appetite. I miss her so much."

The former lorry driver took the drastic action after claiming to have been told by social services that his 88-year-old wife was coming back to him after three months at the home.

But a day before he was expecting her release he said bosses told him she should stay at The Hollies residential and nursing home in Clayton-le-Moors for another six months as they could look after her best.

The next day he stormed into the home to take his wife - but hours later council chiefs were at Blackburn County Court seeking a "guardianship order" for six months.

They were eventually granted two weeks - and when this is up face a battle over who should take care of Mrs Cramp.

Mr Cramp said: "I have demonstrated I can care better for her. For the last four weeks she has come home once a week. It was obvious she would rather be with me.

"She indicated to them she didn't want to go back. She wanted to stop with me.

"She was cheerful, sociable, everything you wouldn't expect of someone who they wanted to detain.

"The home tried to stop me taking her. They said I would have to wait for social services and I said the last thing I want to do is wait for social services. She is my wife and I am taking her home'."

He said social services arrived at his house to take her back at 7pm - little over nine hours since he took her away.

A spokeswoman for Lancashire County Council, which applied for the order, today said she could not comment on individual cases.

But she said: "If a vulnerable person does not have the mental capacity to fully understand their current situation, or make an informed choice about their care, our team of professionals would work with their family to agree the most appropriate course of action to take.

"If the family wishes to pursue a course of action which we do not feel is in the best interests of the vulnerable person, and would put them at serious risk of harm, then we have no option but to apply for a Guardianship Order under the Mental Health Act."

Mrs Cramp was first taken to the home from Blackburn Royal Infirmary after suffering a stroke.

Mr Cramp said he had no intention of taking her back again - a move which would be a criminal offence.

Yet Mr Cramp, of Maudsley Street, Accrington, said he was determined to overturn the order when it returns to court on June 7.

He said: "I am going to fight it. Every week is important to her."

He called the order "diabolical" as Lancashire County Council has closed 32 of its 48 own care homes to save millions of pounds.

He said: "They are encouraging people with relatives in care homes, where they are capable, to take them home and look after them with assistance.

"They should be encouraging me to do this, not discouraging me."

Age Concern spokeswoman Vicky Shepherd said: "It can be a difficult time when, due to care needs, couples are separated and the ideal situation is that all parties can work together to protect the interests of the vulnerable person but a Guardianship order may need to be used to resolve a situation where there is a difference of opinion."