A couple who had their baby taken away have been paid compensation at the European Court of Human Rights after they were cleared of child abuse.

The couple, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had their baby taken into care after a broken leg led doctors to believe they were abusing her.

However, brittle bone disease was later diagnosed and she was returned to her parents, the Daily Mail reports.

The couple took legal action against the doctors, claiming that they should have spotted the condition sooner, but this was rejected by British courts.

So, they took the case to the European Court of Human Rights, where the judge ruled it was against their civil liberties that they had not been able to sue the hospital.

"The applicants should have had available to them a means to claim that the local authority’s handling of procedures had been responsible for any damage they had suffered and to claim compensation," the judge concluded.

They have now been paid £8,000 in compensation for the breach of their human rights.

Article 13 of the Remedy for Violation of Rights Act states that everyone whose rights are violated shall have an effective remedy before a national authority, notwithstanding that the violation has been committed by persons acting in an official capacity.