Kirstie Allsopp has told the BBC she felt “sick” after being contacted by social services for allowing her 15-year-old son to go interrailing around Europe.

On Monday, the broadcaster posted on social media that her son had returned from a three-week trip abroad with another teenage friend, and without parental supervision.

Allsopp said she was “deeply shocked” when Kensington and Chelsea Council informed her the matter had been referred to social services shortly after she discussed it on X, formerly Twitter.

A spokesperson for the council said its “absolute priority” was the safety of children.

Allsopp’s son traveled to Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Berlin, Munich, Marseille, Toulouse, Barcelona and Madrid with a 16-year-old friend earlier this summer.

She told followers on social media that she had decided to let him go because society was “increasingly risk-averse”, and children needed to develop the “confidence that only comes from trusting them”.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Broadcasting House, she said: ‘His group have all turned 16.

“Like a lot of kids who are at Reading or Leeds (festivals)… or traveling in Europe, there are some who are a bit younger just because of their cohort.”

Allsopp said she did not know who had contacted social services or the details of the complaint.

She said she did not want to come across as critical of “wonderful” social services, but was shocked by the call.

Allsopp continued: “Confidence comes from trust and independence and from doing things yourself.

“My son is capable. It was his idea, his plan, his savings.

“He came to me and said, ‘Can I do this?’, and I saw no reason to say no.

“And when I mentioned that he had done it, I wanted to be inspirational.”

A spokesman for Kensington and Chelsea Council said: “Safeguarding children is an absolute priority.

“We take all referrals we receive very seriously and we have a statutory responsibility for children under 18.”