Doctors can withdraw life-sustaining treatment from a 24-year-old father who has been in a coma for two years since being struck by a rare disease, a judge has ruled.

Dad-of-two Marcus Campbell, of Thornton Heath, can be moved onto palliative care regime, Mr Justice Roderic Wood said on Wednesday at a specialist court.

It followed a hearing at the Court of Protection, where judges consider issues relating to people who may lack the mental capacity to make decisions.

Mr Campbell's mother Sandra Palmer, a legal team appointed to represent him and doctors all agreed that a move to a palliative care regime would be in his best interests, the judge heard.

Lawyers representing doctors told the judge that Mr Campbell - who was born on Christmas Day 1991 - was in a "deep unresponsive coma" and had no awareness and no prospect of recovery.

They said he had also recently suffered a "life-threatening infection".

OCTOBER 2014: Hundreds protest outside Croydon University Hospital over critically ill dad's care

Mr Campbell has been diagnosed with demyelinating medullary disease - which can result in damage to the brain and nerves.

His case made national headlines after he fell ill in 2014.

Relatives and friends launched the Please Save Marcus campaign and urged doctors to do "everything in their power" to keep him alive.

In October 2014 demonstrators staged an emotional protest outside Croydon University Hospital, where Mr Campbell was being cared for, and accused doctors of "giving up" on him after they said he would not be resuscitated if his heart stopped.

Mr Campbell, who has two young daughters, first reported to the hospital in July that year complaining of nausea, breathing difficulties and blurry vision.

Doctors gave him antibiotics for a suspected viral infection, but his condition worsened and he was taken by paramedics to St George's Hospital, where he was diagnosed with a brain inflammation and fell critically ill. 

He was transferred to Croydon University Hospital, where he slipped into a coma from which he was never emerged. He remains at the hospital today.

In November 2014, Mr Campbell's family reached an agreement with Croydon Health Services NHS Trust in court that he would not not receive life-sustaining treatment if his condition significantly deteriorated.

Croydon Health Services asked Mr Justice Wood to approve a move to a palliative care on Wednesday with the support of Mrs Palmer.

A spokeswoman for the trust said: “We remain in close contact with Marcus’s family and we will continue to involve them in any decisions made about our care of him.

"This is a very upsetting and private time for Marcus’s loved ones and for everyone who has been involved in his care. 

“We will continue to act in Marcus’s best interests, and support his family and friends so they are able to be with him at this difficult time.”

Mr Campbell's interests had been represented by staff from the Office of the Official Solicitor, who help vulnerable people involved in litigation.

Normally, judges bar reporters from identifying individuals who are the subject of Court of Protection hearings.

But Mr Justice Wood allowed Mr Campbell to be named because the case had featured in the media after his family launched their campaign.