An SNP MP has urged the Home Office to help reunite a Syrian family after the parents, who fled to Scotland, discovered their nine-year-old son was still alive.

Owen Thompson MP, who represents Midlothian, has written to home secretary Amber Rudd after receiving an assurance from the Prime Minister on Wednesday that the case would be examined.

The parents of Mohamed Karou, aged nine, fled Syria earlier this year believing their son had died. They have been resettled in Penicuik.

They have since learned he is alive but trapped inside the war-torn country.

The government says Mohamed must undergo a DNA test at an approved centre before he can be brought to the UK but there are no longer any such centres available in Syria.

It also advised against the Red Cross escorting the boy to a neighbouring country with the required facilities over safety concerns.

The Home Office has said it is still "carefully considering" available options in the case.

It runs a number of schemes aimed at reuniting Syrian families, including the Gateway Protection Programme in partnership with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Mandate Refugee Programme and the Syrian Vulnerable Person Resettlement scheme.

Thompson said: "This family have gone through an unimaginable amount of pain - from finding out that their son is still alive to the agony and frustration of the last six months trying to get Mohamed out of Syria.

"A Red Cross chaperone has been offered to take Mohamed across the border but the Home Office has advised against this because it is just too dangerous.

"This little boy is in an extremely vulnerable position and urgently needs our help to ensure that he can be reunited with his family in Scotland."

He added: "In light of the exceptional circumstances in this case, I call on the home secretary to take immediate action to remove Mohamed from the imminent danger he faces.

"Unfortunately Mohamed is only one of thousands of children in a similar situation and the policy of reuniting children with their families must be re-examined.

"The UK Government can and should do more to help the innocent people of Syria caught up in this devastating conflict."

A Home Office spokesperson said: "This is a complex case and we are carefully considering what options are available."