The parents of a chronically ill baby girl have vowed to fight hospital authorities if they seek a court order that would allow doctors to withhold treatment and let their daughter die.

Charlotte Wyatt weighed only 1lb when she was born at St Mary's Hospital in Portsmouth three months prematurely and has a damaged heart and lungs. She has never left the hospital.

Doctors have told Darren and Debbie Wyatt that their 10-month-old daughter - who has nearly died three times - is unlikely to survive.

They have said that although they will try to keep Charlotte healthy, they do not intend to put her back on a ventilator if she stops breathing.

But the Wyatts believe their daughter has already shown incredible resilience. "We still hope that one day Charlotte might come out of hospital," said Mr Wyatt, a 32-year-old chef. "Until we have no hope left we will keep fighting and fighting for her ... I simply cannot make a decision to end Charlotte's life - she has been fighting for 10 months and I'm not prepared to let her down ... If the hospital try to get a court order we will have to fight that."

The views of Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust are made clear in minutes of a meeting between doctors and the Wyatts. They state: "If Charlotte deteriorated, the staff would do their utmost to keep her alive until the family arrived but they would not transfer her to the paediatric intensive care unit, who would be reluctant to take her in any case.

"The trust would be prepared to go to the courts rather than send Charlotte to the ICU."

More meetings are planned, but the trust is understood to be seeking legal advice.

Joanna Walker, clinical director of paediatrics at St Mary's, said yesterday: "We care passionately about all our patients. When a child has a life limiting condition we work co-operatively with the parents and family always to act in the child's best interests."