The widow of a Falklands war veteran has been given a 'last chance' to have her late husband's child after winning a High Court case.

Samantha Jefferies, 42, was forced to go to court after discovering that the 10-year period for storing the couple's frozen embryos had been inexplicably amended from 10 years to just two years and had since expired.

A judge has now declared that the amendment to the storage period was "not valid" and the embryos, instead of being allowed to perish, can still lawfully be stored and used.

Mrs Jefferies and husband Clive had been undergoing fertility treatment when he died suddenly, aged 51, of a brain haemorrhage.

With tears in her eyes, Mrs Jefferies said the judge's decision was "overwhelmingly fantastic - just brilliant, amazing".

Mrs Jefferies said she did not have a plan for using the embryos soon but added: "I would love to be a mum."

Mrs Jeffries' husband served in the Royal Army Medical Corps and was on board the transport ship Sir Galahad when it was bombed in the Falklands in 1982, killing 48 men.

She told the court her husband was "a wonderful man", adding: "I want my husband's child."