A terminally ill woman in England is seeking to avoid an "undignified" death has asked the High Court to force her doctors to let her die.

In an unusual case, lawyers for Kelly Taylor, 30, who suffers from heart, lung and spinal conditions, argued that doctors are breaching Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which bans “inhuman or degrading treatment", by making her live in pain until her condition naturally ends her life.

Mrs Taylor has been told that she may have less than a year to live, but she wants her doctors to first end her suffering by sedating her with morphine and then, following instructions laid out in a "living will", to make no attempt to keep her alive by feeding or hydrating her.

“I have made the decision because enough is enough. I don’t want to suffer any more," Mrs Taylor said. "My consultant has told me that he does not expect me to live for another year.

“In that time I will deteriorate and that deterioration will become quite undignified. I want to avoid that.”

But doctors have refused, saying it would amount to euthanasia.

Human rights lawyers believe that Mrs Taylor may have difficulty convincing the court that she should be allowed to die.

One expert said: “The case highlights the inherent tension within the European Convention of Human Rights between Article 2, which upholds the right to life and Article 2, which protects against degrading treatment.

“Mrs Taylor is likely to run into difficulty because there is no existing European case law to support her position that Article 3 compels doctors to assist her in dying.”

Today’s case, which will proceed to a full hearing next month, is thought to be unique, although terminally ill patients have attempted similar arguments in the past.