A court has granted orders allowing medics force feed an anorexic woman with a gastric tube.

The HSE brought an urgent application to the High Court this afternoon.

The court heard the woman is in her 20s - suffers from anorexia nervosa and has previously been subject to orders allowing doctors to force feed her through a tube.

She was discharged to the care of her parents earlier this month but was readmitted to hospital following an incident last week.

In an urgent application to the court this afternoon, barrister Sarah McKechnie for the HSE said the woman has expressed suicidal ideation, her weight has dropped again and she is not accepting treatment.

The court heard a psychiatrist believes the woman no longer has the necessary mental capacity to make decisions.

Mr Justice Raymond Fulham has agreed to reinstate orders allowing medics to sedate her and feed her through a tube as necessary.