Texas child welfare chiefs have asked a judge to put eight children from a polygamist sect’s ranch back into foster care because their mothers refuse to limit their contact with men accused of being involved in underage marriages.

Police wore body armour, sported automatic weapons and were backed by an armoured personnel carrier for a raid on a West Texas polygamist retreat, photos and video show.

More than 400 children, mostly girls in pioneer dresses, were swept into state custody from a polygamist sect in what authorities described as the largest child-welfare operation in Texas history.

Child welfare officials and police today removed a busload of children from a secretive Texas religious retreat built by polygamist leader Warren Jeffs.