The leader of the council says there is a growing need for foster and adoptive parents from different ethnic backgrounds to come forward.

The comments come after independent councillor Husain Akhtar said Harrow Borough Council was not doing enough to engage with ethnic minorities to encourage them to foster or adopt.

Concerns were raised after protests from the Somali community against the adoption of a child by a lesbian couple.

The adoption has since been put on hold, but council leader Cllr Susan Hall says there is clearly a need for potential foster and adoptive parents from different ethnic backgrounds to come forward as recruits.

She said: “The most important thing is that the child goes to a loving and supportive home and to people we believe, on the basis of thorough assessment, are best suited to look after them.”