Government lawyers referred Archie Battersbee’s legal fight back to the High Court on Sunday, just hours before his treatment was due to be stopped.

The 12-year-old boy was left in a comatose state after suffering brain damage following an incident at his home on April 7. 

Barts Health NHS Trust, which is caring for the boy, said in a letter to his parents over the weekend that "all fluid infusions, medications, including vasopressin will be stopped" at 2pm on August 1.

His parents, Hollie Dance and Paul Battersbee, asked the United Nations to intervene in his case, arguing that the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities (UNRPD) has a protocol that allows families to make complaints about violations of disabled people’s rights. 

In response, the UNRPD asked the UK to "refrain from withdrawing life-preserving medical treatment, including mechanical ventilation and artificial nutrition and hydration... while the case is under consideration by the committee".

However, it added that this request does not imply the committee has reached a decision on the matter. 

The Government Legal Department wrote to the Family Division of the High Court on Sunday and asked for the committee’s request to be "urgently considered".

It requested the letter be placed before an "out-of-hours judge immediately and/or, if possible, before Mr Justice Hayden" - the High Court judge who ruled that doctors can lawfully stop providing treatment to the boy after reviewing evidence. 

Responding to the last minute intervention, Ms Dance said: "We are relieved that the government has taken the UN’s intervention seriously. This was not a ‘request’ but an interim measures injunction from the UN. 

"The anxiety of being told that Archie’s life-support will be removed [Monday] at 2pm has been horrific. We are already broken and the not-knowing what was going to happen next is excruciating."

Ms Dance was refusing to leave his bedside on Sunday after doctors said his treatment would be stopped. 

His family last week failed to persuade the Supreme Court to intervene in his case, after a Mr Justice Hayden ruled that ending treatment is in Archie's best interests. 

Alistair Chesser, the chief medical officer for Barts Health NHS Trust, said their "deepest sympathies" are with Archie’s family, but added: "Any further delay in starting palliative care would not be appropriate without an order of the court."

It is understood the Trust is following its instructions set out by the High Court to stop Archie’s treatment, and it has not received any direct communications from the UNRPD or the Government to act otherwise.