The Northern Ireland Health Minister is going to the highest British court to stop gay couples from being allowed to adopt.

Edwin Poots is appealing the ruling of the Court of Appeal in Belfast which said gay and lesbian couples had the same adoption rights as others.

Previously a gay or lesbian person was allowed to adopt a child if they were single but were barred from doing so if they were in a civil partnership.

The case is now expected to go before the Supreme Court in London next year.

Northern-based LGBT health organisation The Rainbow Project said "While we are disappointed that the Court of Appeal has granted leave to petition the Supreme Court, we remain unwaveringly confident that the Supreme Court will uphold the decisions of the lower courts".

"At no stage throughout this lengthy and costly process has Edwin Poots provided any evidence as to why same-sex and unmarried couples should be denied the opportunity to apply to be adopters".

"It is not the place of the courts to implement the personal prejudices of Ministers and by continuing this farce, Edwin Poots is simply denying children the right to be placed in loving and stable homes" it added.