Scotland's biggest council has dismissed UK government claims that a decision to stop taking child refugees was made after consultations with local authorities.

Glasgow city council - one of the biggest hosts of refugees in Britain - said it learned of the Tory U-turn on unaccompanied minors from the news.

The Labour-led authority said it was still ready and able to take children - a view earlier expressed by the Scottish Government.

UK Home Secretary Amber Rudd last week said Britain would not take child refugees under the Dubs Amendment because the government feared the move would encourage human trafficking.

Tory MP Claire Perry claimed the decision was made after talks with councils.

She said: "What the government committed to was to make sure every child that came, who might have been through the most horrific situation, would be given as much support as they could possibly have through the local councils, and the local councils have come back and said ‘this is the number we feel we can support.'”

Glasgow leader Frank McAveety has disputed this version of events. In a letter to Ms Rudd, he said: "I want to object to that decision – and the cynical way in which it was announced – in the strongest possible terms.

“The decision itself is a betrayal of some of the world’s most vulnerable children.

"Releasing the news through a written statement in the midst of the high-profile debates on brexit was nothing more than cowardly.

"If you had sought proper consultation with local authorities you would have discovered that Scotland has not yet taken its expected full share and indeed is currently looking at ways to increase capacity where that is stretched.

"You would also be aware, if you are not already, that there is a real willingness to help, a willingness that is currently not matched by government funds which appear to have put a price on sanctuary and compassion. "

First minister Nicola Sturgeon last week urged the prime minister to reverse the "shameful decision" to close the scheme to take in unaccompanied refugee children from other countries in Europe.

Controversy erupted after ministers announced last Wednesday that just 350 children will be brought to the UK under the Dubs Amendment - far fewer than the 3,000 originally expected.

The scheme will come to an end after 150 unaccompanied children are brought to Britain, on top of 200 who have already arrived through the programme.

Ms Sturgeon said the Scottish Government supports UK commitments under the Syrian resettlement programme and the Middle East & North Africa vulnerable children's resettlement scheme, with around 1,300 Syrian refugees now living in Scotland.

The First Minister added: "Scotland has provided a safe place for 35 unaccompanied children from France via the Dubs Amendment and approximately 110 who have arrived through clandestine routes in unimaginably traumatic circumstances.

"We are also working with the home office and convention of Scottish local authorities on the UK-wide dispersal scheme of unaccompanied children from Kent, and look forward to welcoming a number of young people soon.

"However, as you are aware, this barely touches the scale of the crisis and i urge you to reverse the shameful decision on the Dubs amendment which cuts off the only reliable and legal route for unaccompanied children arriving from Europe."