Child asylum seekers compensated

18 February 2012 Last updated at 01:21 GMT The Home Office is understood to have paid more than £1m in compensation to 40 children wrongly held in adult detention centres while seeking asylum.

The children, believed to have been as young as 14, began legal proceedings in 2005.

Previously, immigration officers could refuse to accept a person's claim to be under 18, if they suspected otherwise, and deal with them as an adult.

The government has since accepted its policy was unlawful, and changed it.

A UK Border Agency spokesman said: "We take the welfare of young people exceptionally seriously.

"Where there is any doubt over an individual's age, they will not be detained unless an independent local authority age assessment concludes that they are over 18. These checks are carried out by social workers with expert knowledge.

"All of our front-line staff receive specialist training to ensure that the welfare of young people is considered at every stage."