A paralysed woman being kept alive on a life-support machine has today confirmed to the high court that she wants to be allowed to die.

The woman, who is in her 40s and cannot be identified, breathes with the aid of a ventilator.

Her submission, from her hospital bed in London, was heard this morning in the presence of judge Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss and relayed to the high court via a video link.

Surrounded by a team of 11 lawyers and medical staff, the woman explained to the judge why she wants doctors to end her life-prolonging treatment.

The patient spoke at length about her predicament and was alert and fully aware of what she wanted.

The woman told her counsel, Philip Havers QC, that she wanted to leave hospital and be taken somewhere where her wishes would be carried out.

She said doctors had fully explained the consequences of this course of action but it had not altered her decision.

Her mind was made up, she told Peter Jackson QC, counsel for the official solicitor.

Dame Elizabeth said the only issue she had to decide on was whether the woman had the capacity to make a decision that included telling others to turn off the ventilator.

She said: "It's then going to be entirely up to you what you want to happen next and it would be in your hands whether you said 'please arrange for the ventilator to be turned off' at whatever was the most opportune and least distressing time for you.

"Or you would have a chance to say 'now I will consider rehabilitation but on the terms that if after six months I don't feel it's working, turn off the ventilator'."

The hearing resumed at the high court this afternoon and is expected to end tomorrow with judgment likely to be reserved.