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Manchester City Council has lost an appeal over costs after unlawfully removing an 18-year-old with learning difficulties from his long-term carer.

The teenager, with a mental age of two, was not returned to his carer after a respite period as false allegations had been made against the carer.

The decision to remove the teenager was described as "deplorable" by a High Court judge in March 2010.

The Court of Appeal has ruled that the payment order will stand.

The amount of the costs has not been disclosed.

The order, which includes amounts to be paid on an indemnity basis, was made by Mr Justice Baker last March in the Court of Protection.

On Tuesday, Lord Justice Mummery, sitting with Lord Justice Hooper and Mr Justice McFarlane, ruled the order was justified by the council's failings.

'Stand by decision'

Liz Bruce, the council's director of adult services, said the authority noted the ruling of the court.

"As we said at the time of the original ruling, we strive to make good professional judgements and offer the best support to vulnerable adults and families we can, but this case illustrates how difficult a job that can be," she said.

"We had to act after serious concerns were raised about this young man's welfare. It wasn't an easy decision to keep 'E' in the home where he was receiving respite care, but his welfare was our primary consideration.

"While we stand by our decision to keep 'E' where he was, the court made it clear in its ruling last year that we made serious mistakes in the way we went about it.

"We regret this and have now put in place measures so that in future similar cases we will follow the correct procedures."