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Harry Dunn's parents have lost their High Court battle against the Foreign Office over whether their son's alleged killer had diplomatic immunity.

Charlotte Charles and Tim Dunn lodged a legal challenge after American Anne Sacoolas was granted diplomatic immunity following the death of their 19-year-old son Harry Dunn.

Mr Dunn was killed when his motorbike crashed into a car being driven on the wrong side of the road outside a Northamptonshire US airbase on 27 August last year.

The driver, Mrs Sacoolas, was a former CIA agent whose husband Jonathan Sacoolas worked as a technical assistant at RAF Croughton.

The 43-year-old left the country a few weeks later after the US said she was entitled to diplomatic immunity.

She was ultimately charged with causing death by dangerous driving last December, but an extradition request was rejected by the US State Department in January - a decision it later described as "final".

Mr Dunn's parents have been fighting to get Mrs Sacoolas back to the UK to face trial ever since.

They claimed the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) wrongly decided Sacoolas had diplomatic immunity and unlawfully obstructed Northamptonshire Police's investigation into their son's death by keeping the force "in the dark".

At a hearing earlier this month, their lawyers said the FCDO "took upon itself the authority to resolve the question of immunity and ultimately and unlawfully decided to accept the US embassy's decision that Anne Sacoolas had immunity".

Sam Wordsworth QC told the court that Sacoolas had "no duties at all" at the base and therefore "never had any relevant immunity for the US to waive".

But in a High Court judgment today, Lord Justice Flaux and Mr Justice Saini said: "Our conclusion is that Mrs Sacoolas enjoyed immunity from UK criminal jurisdiction at the time of Harry's death."

The judges rejected the family's claim that the FCDO "usurped" Northamptonshire Police's investigation into their son's death, finding officials "sought to assist rather than obstruct" the investigation.

In a statement, Harry's mother said: "The governments and Mrs Sacoolas need to understand that this court ruling is just a blip along the way.

"I promised my boy I would get him justice and that is just what Team Harry are going to do. No one is going to stand in our way.

"Right from the start our team have advised us that Anne Sacoolas did not have diplomatic immunity when she killed Harry and that advice is just (as) strong now as it was at the start of our campaign.

"It's obviously disappointing that this court did not find in our favour but we are more focused now than ever on fulfilling that promise."

Tim Dunn added: "I still wake up every morning in absolute disbelief that we are in this situation at all.

"It all seems so cruel and needless and I am just as angry today as I ever have been but so determined to see it all through until we have justice."

They have said they will appeal the High Court ruling.

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Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said: "My thoughts today are with Harry's family. While the judgment makes clear the Foreign Office acted properly and lawfully throughout, I appreciate that won't provide any solace to the family in their search for justice.

"We stand with them, we're clear that Anne Sacoolas needs to face justice in the UK, and we will support the family with their legal claim in the US."

Mrs Charles and Mr Dunn's case centres on a 1995 agreement between the UK and the US, granting immunity to administrative and technical staff at RAF Croughton, which the US waived in relation to "acts performed outside the course of their duties".

But the FCDO says that waiver only applied to staff at RAF Croughton and not their family members, meaning Sacoolas did have immunity at the time of the crash.

Mrs Charles and Mr Dunn initially also took legal action against Northamptonshire Police but that claim was dropped in July, with the family's spokesman saying the force had been "absolved of any blame".