The Netherlands is to widen its euthanasia regulations to include the possibility of doctors assisting in the death of terminally ill children aged between one and 12.

They already allow infanticide, or euthanasia for infants, of those under 12 months of age.

The new rules would apply to between five and 10 children a year who “suffer unbearably” from their disease, have no hope of improvement and for whom palliative care cannot bring relief, the government said on Friday.