A Dundee family has had two of their children taken into care for being overweight.

Social workers last week removed the youngest of the six children, aged three and four, and placed them with foster carers after a visit to the family home.

The development comes after the parents, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were warned last year that that they had to bring their children's weight under control.

The parents, who are expecting their seventh child, have now been told that their unborn baby has been placed on an at-risk register and could be taken away at birth.

The family's lawyer has warned there is a "real threat" that child protection teams could enter the hospital and remove the infant minutes after he or she is born.

The mother and father have also been told "active steps" are being taken to remove the remaining children from their care.

It emerged last year that the couple, from Dundee, had been threatened by social workers that they risked losing all of their six children, aged from three to 13, unless their eldest son and two of his sisters slimmed down. Since then, the 13-year-old's weight has soared to more than 16 stone and the youngest has been labelled "overweight".

The couple's lawyer, Kathleen Price, described Dundee City Council's handling of the case as "scandalous" and has launched an appeal to have the children returned to the family. She said: "This whole case has been dreadful. Neither of these parents takes drink or drugs. They have a big, happy, noisy family, which is prone to being overweight.

"To remove their children for that reason is scandalous. They had their children taken from them a week past Thursday and have no idea where they are. I have also had to warn them I believe social workers will enter the labour suite when their new baby arrives next month. They feel they are being victimised and are a complete mess."

The couple, who live in a semi-detached house in the city, had been ordered to send their children to dance and football lessons to curb their obesity. The local authority also spent more than £100,000 for supervisors to monitor the family and try to help them retrain their children's appalling eating and lifestyle habits.

The couple originally contacted social workers seeking help with managing their children - one of whom has developmental problems. Officials responded by expressing concern about their weight.

At the time, the emotional mother said: "They keep making an issue about the kids' weight. I don't even own a deep-fat fryer. All my food is home-cooked and the kids are not fed junk food. Children can carry a bit of puppy fat, but they tend to lose is as they get older. Ours are not being given that chance."

Experts warn that many local authorities now treat obesity as an "abuse issue". Tam Fry, member of the National Obesity Forum, said: "More councils are now viewing obesity as an abuse issue, but not on the same scale as sexual or physical abuse and it would be cruel not to let these parents have any contact. What they should be doing is placing the children in hospital and bringing their weight back to a normal level while working with the family."

A spokesman for Dundee City Council said any decision to remove children from their family would not be made solely on the basis of a "weight issue".