Adoption teams hope a landmark High Court ruling will not discourage people from giving homes to needy children.

A couple this week successfully claimed Essex County Council had failed to reveal their adopted 12-year-old son was "uncontrollable and vicious".

The unnamed pair accused the council of negligence and were awarded damages.

Notts County Council and Nottingham City Council hope the case does not open a floodgate of similar complaints in their area.

Figures for adopting older children are currently low and the two adoption services are anxious that the court case does not lead to fewer people adopting older children.

Tim Baggs, adoption spokesman at the city council, said: "It is difficult to gauge the wider impact of this ruling. Nevertheless, we hope that it does not discourage people to come forward to help children who need a permanent home."

Notts adoption service - known as Forever Families - is desperate for more adoptive parents, with 42 children waiting to be placed, of whom more than half are over the age of five.