A father who couldn’t see his “miracle” premature daughter because of lockdown sent a scathing letter about Dominic Cummings to his local MP.

Craig Kennealey and his partner Kerry Allman welcomed little Eleanor Rose, who was born at just 23 weeks and six days and weighed just 1lb 3oz, on February 23 at Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral.

Since then the little fighter has had to endure an operation to close a hole in her heart and a coronavirus scare, while mum and dad were forced to visit her separately – with eventually only one parent being allowed to visit because of lockdown.

Mr Kennealey, 36, is known to many as a director and DJ at Sound Radio station based in Kinmel Bay.

He revealed how he and Miss Allman, 30, had suffered four miscarriages – the last in 2019 at 20 weeks – before “miracle” baby Eleanor was born.

Yet the troubles the family have endured made Mr Kennealey being as “angry as he had ever been” about the revelations of Dominic Cummings’ trip to Barnard Castle and its environs in March and April this year.

In an email to Vale of Clwyd MP Dr James Davies he said he and his partner had made sacrifices like wearing “terrifying PPE”, being restricted to one parent visits that made “bonding” difficult and being separated by 50 miles from friends and family support.

He wrote how Mr Cummings had been allowed to drive 260 miles to County Durham and it had been deemed “acceptable”.

He added: “We were following guidance and rules from the Government to keep ourselves and others safe.

“I and others in the Vale of Clwyd have to sacrifice everything and some a bit more. I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one in the Vale of Clwyd angry at this situation.”

Mr Kennealey asked for the MP’s views on how Mr Cummings’ behaviour would affect the health of people in his constituency.

He added: “It was about eight weeks at Arrowe Park and Alder Hey and there were so many restrictions.

“My partner and I couldn’t see our baby at the same time. It got me angry.

“We can’t hold our daughter without a mask and an apron and there’s someone gallivanting around the country.

“I’ve never been that angry before about something.”

Dr Davies replied he “shared” the concerns of constituents over the scandal but said Mr Cummings believed he was “acting in the best way possible for his family” and that “his actions were justified by small print in the Government guidance”.

He went on to say millions had adhered to lockdown rules “to the letter” and people “understandably feel let down”.

Mr Kennealey said he was “disappointed” his reply from the MP was “impersonal”.

He added: “I wasn’t directing the letter I sent to our MP. I was asking serious questions about Dominic Cummings’ behaviour.”

GP Dr Davies told the Local Democracy Reporting Service he apologised not all of the many letters he received on the subject “received a personal note” in response.

Dr Davies added: “I wish Mr Kennealey and family all the best with his newborn.”

Eleanor Rose, who reached 100-days-old on Tuesday this week, is now at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd and has been moved off a ventilator and onto a C-PAP (continuous air pressure pump) machine to help her lungs.

She is continuing to defy the odds but the family has been told it may be two months before she can come home to Rhyl.

Mr Kennealey said: “She recently had an operation to close a hole in her heart and she’s doing well. You have to remember how small she is.

“There was also a moment when she had some symptoms of coronavirus and she was put into isolation.

“But she’s stronger than all of us. She’s still here and defying the odds but it’s been difficult.

“The sacrifices to live in the McDonald’s house and move our family there, it’s just been really hard.

“We’ve spent weeks watching her grow and we’ve taken every day as it comes – but she’s doing really well.”