A mother who is fighting to win back custody of her daughter from her American former husband has made a desperate appeal to the people of Bradford for help.

Claire Thompson has only nine working days to raise the £10,000 needed to challenge a court decision which took her four-year-old daughter Sydney away from her.

Last week Claire's father Danny, who lives in Undercliffe, said he feared he would never be able to see his granddaughter back in Bradford again unless the cash could be found.

However, despite an appeal in the Telegraph & Argus and in media across the country, the family have only received £100 towards the £10,000 target.

Now they are hoping a benefactor from the city can come to their rescue.

Claire said: "I am waiting for a miracle. I need to find this money to get the transcript from four days of court cases so I can lodge an appeal.

"But I am running up against time: it is so frustrating. I have had my daughter taken off me and I haven't done anything wrong. Sydney was my life and now I have had that taken away from me. I feel like my daughter has been stolen and the police are telling me there is nothing I can do."

Claire has lived in US state of Wisconsin for four years and gave birth to Sydney in 2000 after marrying Jamie Moncada.

She left her husband in 2001 to return back to Britain with Sydney because she was worried about her daughter's health as she suffers from neutropenia, a condition which affects her white blood cell count.

But the decision to come home from an unhappy marriage has now cost Claire custody of her daughter.

Sydney was taken from her by an American court last year after her former husband accused her of abduction to bring her back to Britain.

Claire has angrily denied this and told the T&A Mr Moncada knew she was leaving and even paid for their flights back home.

But Mr Moncada used the Hague Convention to insist that Sydney's welfare was decided by a court in her "habitual country of residence" - America.

Now Claire can now only see her daughter once a fortnight and is living in a one-room flat trying to raise cash to mount an appeal. She said she would continue to live in America to see her daughter.

Claire's case is being backed by British charity Reunite, which provides support for parents involved in international abduction cases. Director Denise Carter urged the people of Bradford to make cash donations for Claire in her hour of need.

She said: "Claire is the victim. She had a bad time and brought her child back home from America.

"But she volunteered to return: she didn't wait for the court order and she tried to sort things out amicably but her husband didn't want that. They have beaten her emotionally and financially and now Claire faces being wiped out of Sydney's life

"And what about the grandparents who will never see Sydney again? I would call on people to support these young mums like Claire who have ended up in this situation not because they are bad parents but because their marriage has broken down and it just happens to cross international borders."

Anyone who wants to help the Thompsons should make a cheque payable to Reunite and send it to PO Box 7124, Leicester LE1 7XX, marked for Claire Thompson