The family of terminally ill baby Luke Winston-Jones, who was at the centre of a high court right-to-life battle, has demanded an inquiry into the hospital care he received before his death early today.

Luke's aunt, Jacqui Kirkwood, who was with him when he died, claimed doctors at Liverpool's Alder Hey children's hospital did not give him the treatment which the high court had ordered was acceptable.

The family of the 10-month-old child last month lost a legal fight which meant doctors could withhold "aggressive" life-saving treatment by mechanical ventilation if his condition deteriorated.

The ruling kept open the option of performing cardiac massage on baby Luke. But the judge, Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss, pointed out that the court had no power to compel doctors to provide it.

Luke's mother Ruth, from Holyhead, north Wales, said she was "severely traumatised" by the events. She said: "It is the end of my world, I have lost my precious little boy."

Mrs Kirkwood said doctors refused to carry out procedures which would have saved Luke's life and he passed away.

She said: "The whole family is grieving but we are also angry as well because of the actions of the medical staff. This is exactly what we did not want to happen.

"Ruth had left Luke at 12.20am last night and he was fine. She was called back an hour later after he developed a slight temperature. We want a full inquiry into what happened, we will not let this rest."

Luke was given only days to live after he was diagnosed with the genetic disorder Edwards syndrome, a fatal chromosomal abnormality, shortly after birth. He also suffered from heart and breathing problems and never left hospital during his short life.

He was originally treated at Gwynedd hospital in Bangor, north Wales, but was moved recently to Alder Hey in Liverpool.

A joint application was made by both hospitals to the high court, requesting permission to withhold treatment if Luke's condition worsened.

Mrs Winston-Jones, 35, had fought against the application by Royal Liverpool Children's NHS trust and North West Wales NHS trust that Luke should not receive treatment. She said that leaving the decision to doctors "would constitute an abrogation of her maternal duty".

The case came to the high court only two weeks after a judge ruled that another seriously ill baby, Charlotte Wyatt, from Portsmouth, should not be given aggressive treatment but should be allowed to die peacefully.