A mother and son have become the second family to be evicted under the government's policy that can lead to the children of failed asylum seekers being taken into care.

The family were evicted from their home by Blackburn with Darwen Council and are now understood to be in a hostel.

Stephen Sloss, the council's director of social services, said Blackburn with Darwen was assessing the family's case under human rights legislation. "As an interim measure the authority continues to support the family and is in contact with the National Asylum Support Service about the case," he said.

The policy, spelt out in section 9 of the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc) Act 2004, removes benefits, including rent money, from asylum-seeker families whose claims have failed and who refuse to leave the country.

In August, Vanda Da Graca, 26, and her four-year-old daughter were the first family to be evicted under the policy, by Rochdale Council.