THE head of one of the Cheshire’s leading independent adoption agencies has urged celebrity couple Katie Price and Peter Andre to reconsider their reported plans to adopt a disabled child from overseas.

Adoption Matters Northwest chief executive Norman Goodwin fears the couple’s plans could prompt people to look abroad for a child and overlook the thousands children, both able-bodied and disabled, that are still in care and desperate for a family in the UK.

Mr Goodwin said: “While it’s good to bring adoption into the spotlight and see high profile people, such as Katie Price and Peter Andre, go through the process too, it’s also important to remember that there are still as many as 5,000 children, of all ethnicities, abilities and ages, in care in this country.

“Some have waited for years and tragically some, as many as 40 per cent, have come to accept that they will never be chosen.”

For more information about Adoption Matters Northwest visit www.adoptionmattersnw.org or call 01244 390938.