Two teenage asylum seekers have won a battle against Croydon Council to provide them with school places.

Mr Justice Lindblom, a High Court judge ruled the authority failed in its legal duty to find two 14-year-old Afghan boys schools and ordered them to do so by October 27.

The teenagers arrived in the country last year without their parents and Croydon was legally bound to house and accomodate them while their asylum applications were processed.

However the authority relied on social workers’ judgement that the teenagers were over 18, despite a medical assesment from Dr Diana Birch who told the council she judged one boy to be 15 and the other 14.

The boys have been without education for almost a year.

The ruling could have implication for more than 50 cases which were waiting on the ruling, which will affect thousands of other child asylum seekers, and has huge financial implications for the councils affected.

Foreign children who come in to the UK are given care and support and are entitled to education.

They are given legal aid and are not subject to the same deportation laws as adults, even if asylum claims are rejected.

If officials think someone is lying about their age, an independent doctor is called in to verify whether or not their claims are real.