Legal permission will no longer be required to end care for patients in a permanent vegetative state, a judge has ruled.

Until now a judge must also consent, even if medics and relatives agree to withdraw nutrition from a patient.

But in what been described as a landmark decision, those cases will no longer have to come to court.

The Official Solicitor, appointed by the state to act for such patients, is likely to appeal against the ruling.

Doctors are able to withdraw treatment from a patient - if relatives consent - under various circumstances without needing court approval.

Mr Justice Jackson, who sits in the Court of Protection, made his ruling in a case concerning a 50-year-old woman who suffered from a degenerative illness for 14 years.

The patient, known in court as M, had Huntington's disease and was bed-ridden in hospital and fed by a tube.

She had shown no sign of awareness for 18 months, the court heard, and Mr Justice Jackson agreed with her family and doctors that withdrawing nutrition from her would be in her best interests.

The tube was removed and she died in August.

Mr Justice Jackson said in his view the case should not have come to court.

"The decision about what was in M's best interests is one that could lawfully have been taken by her treating doctors, having fully consulted her family and having acted in accordance with the MCA (Mental Capacity Act) and with recognised medical standards," the judgement said.