Adopted children and parents are being "well matched" with each other in Bedfordshire, an independent watchdog has ruled.

A report by Ofsted on the county council's adoption service has delivered an "outstanding" verdict, and said there are no areas which need to improve.

The news has been greeted with delight at County Hall, which has said officers are doing a great job in sometimes difficult circumstances.

The report stated: "The adoption agency provides and outstanding service to children, birth parents, adopted adults and adopters."

And it continued: "The recruitment, preparation, assessment and approval of adopters is extremely thorough and the adoption panel provides robust scrutiny of approvals and matches.

"Matches of children are well thought out."

After seeing the report, Councillor David Reedman, the council's cabinet member for children and young people, said: "It is vitally important that we deliver the best possible service to adopted children and their families.

"Our service does an excellent job of meeting the individual needs of each child and ensuring that adopters are well prepared and have a clear understanding of the likely needs of the child coming into their care.

"The adoption staff should be proud of the work they do for the children of Bedfordshire."

Beds County Council