Council chiefs said last night they were setting up a case conference with a mother who has objected to her 11-year-old son being fostered by two homosexual men.

The boy's mother and grandmother voiced criticism in a national newspaper of the proposal to send the youngster, currently living in short-term foster care, to live with a gay couple.

They said they were worried that the boy, who cannot be named, would become ''confused'' by having two gay men as role models.

But Southwark Council said the youngster had spent the weekend with the couple at their home in south-east London and was ''still very keen'' to move in as planned on Friday.

The council said the boy's mother had been invited to all the meetings which had been held to discuss her son's future, but had ''never attended any meetings nor made her views known at any stage regarding this issue''.

Mr Dennis Simpson, director of social services, said: ''In the light of the recent media attention, the need to safeguard the welfare of the child and not jeopardise the placement, the situation is likely to be put on hold.''

The council said a case conference involving the boy, his natural mother and grandmother, as well as social workers, would be arranged in ''the next few days'' to discuss the situation.

A spokesman added: ''We are concerned not to keep the child in limbo for any longer than necessary.

''He wants to live with the new foster couple and we want to ensure his best interests with the co-operation of everybody concerned.''

The move from his current foster parents in Kent, who had been credited with putting him back on the rails after a troubled childhood, was designed for him to be able to live nearer his natural family and a new school.

His mother had put him into care two years ago as she could not cope with his behaviour and special needs.

Although she does not want him to move in with a gay couple, she said she could not have him back because she did not have enough room as she now had two other children.

The mother told The Mirror newspaper: ''This is political correctness gone mad.

''The council have run a steamroller through my wishes and those of the foster parents.

''I wasn't told about the case conference which made this decision. It was just presented to me.''

She added: ''I'm not homophobic, but my son is the kind of the boy who likes to hold hands and kiss people.

''I wouldn't feel happy if two men were giving him these sort of cuddles. I think he'd get confused.''

She added that her son was happiest with his current foster parents as they had ''given him a life I could never have done''.

Southwark Council said the boy had been involved all the way through the planning stages of his move to the new foster parents and had never objected.

It said: ''Our primary concern is to meet the needs of this child and to provide a stable and secure environment.''