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A baby boy taken from his mother and father after suffering a fractured skull will be returned to his "good and careful parents", a judge has ruled.

Dorset Council sought to prove the now-six-month-old child's parents had hurt him before they took him to hospital with a lump on his head in July.

The boy was placed in the care of relatives and has since recovered.

Judge Martin Dancey, sitting at the Courts of Justice in Bournemouth, said the injury was not the parents' fault.

In a family court , he said: "The parenting assessment shows they are good and careful parents.

"There is nothing to suggest the parents would deliberately harm [their child] or be careless in how they looked after him."

The local authority alleged the injury was "caused by one or both of his parents, either deliberately or through carelessness or recklessness".

Both parents said they did not know what happened to their child, who was less than two weeks old at the time.

'Loving'

Judge Dancey said he heard evidence that the injury was "consistent with an impact equivalent to a fall head first on to a hard surface from 60cm".

"The doctors say it could equally easily have been an accident as anything else," the judge said.

He said the parents were in "a loving and committed relationship" and problems the boy's father had experienced during childhood were "largely behind him".

"There is no domestic abuse," he said. "They don't use drugs or alcohol."

The judge said the boy was due to be returned to his parents on Monday.

In a statement, Dorset Council said it would not comment on individual cases.

It added: "If there are any concerns about the welfare of a child, we will always investigate the situation and work with the family (as well as any other organisations involved) to gather as much information as possible before deciding whether an application for a court order is needed.

"It is then for the family court to weigh up the evidence from all parties and make a final decision."