A NORTH-EAST council leader has vowed that "lessons will be learnt" after his authority was strongly criticised for its handling of a custody case involving a 13-month old boy.

Darlington Borough Council's behaviour over the case was slammed by High Court judge Sir James Munby on Tuesday.

The judge ruled the boy's 25-year-old father had the boy's best interests at heart, despite the council's attempts to keep the youngster in care and put him up for adoption.

Ada Burns, the council's chief executive, released a statement on Tuesday, in which she acknowledged the council should have given "greater consideration" to placing the child with its father.

When invited by The Northern Echo to give his reaction to the ruling, council leader Bill Dixon said: "I have asked officers to draw up an action plan and we will take it from there."

Asked to comment on speculation he had been personally involved in the case, given his background in social work, Cllr Dixon added: "[Elected] members are never involved in operational decisions, and rightly so.

"We only became involved when the judgement came through and we will need to look at what it means for the authority in terms of lessons to be learnt and act accordingly."

Darlington MP Jenny Chapman declined to comment on this specific case, saying she did not know enough about it.

She added: "I frequently raise cases and safeguarding concerns with the council and I've never had cause to think they were being treated anything but professionally, seriously and being investigated fully."