The parents of terminally-ill baby, Charlie Gard , have lost their final legal battle to take their son for experimental treatment in the US.

Charlie, 10 months old, has a rare genetic condition and brain damage and his parents wanted him to undergo a therapy trial in America with a treatment called nucleoside.

A spokesman for Great Ormond Street said the decision by the European Court marked "the end" of a difficult process", but she added there would be "no rush" to change Charlie's care.

Specialists at the hospital where Charlie is being cared for said the proposed therapy would not help and life-support treatment should stop.

Chris Gard and Connie Yates, the parents of Charlie Gard, outside the High Court where judges ruled that doctors can stop providing life-support treatment to their sick baby.

Charlie was born on August 4 2016 with a form of mitochondrial disease - a condition which causes brain damage and progressive muscle weakness.

Charlie's parents, Chris Gard and Connie Yates, from Bedfont , spent the past three months taking their case through the UK courts, before the final decision was made by the European Court of Human Rights on Tuesday (June 27).

The pair had asked the European court in Strasburg to consider their argument after judges in the Court of Appeal, High Court, and Supreme Court in London all ruled in favour of Great Ormond Street doctors, but the judges in France, refused to intervene.

The spokesman for Great Ormond Street added: "Our thoughts are with Charlie's parents."

Charlie Gard in April

They said: "[The] decision by the European Court of Human Rights marks the end of what has been a very difficult process and our priority is to provide every possible support to Charlie's parents as we prepare for the next steps.

"There will be no rush by Great Ormond Street Hospital to change Charlie's care and any future treatment plans will involve careful planning and discussion."

Lawyers representing Charlie's parents had argued that the human rights of the couple, and those of Charlie, were being undermined.

A spokesman for the European Court said that judges had "endorsed in substance" the approach of UK judges, saying the legal framework was compatible with European human rights legislation.

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