The council at the centre of the Baby P abuse case defended itself yesterday against allegations made in a television documentary.

Haringey Council admitted "more could have been done" for the toddler but said it had followed child protection procedures.

The statement related to BBC's Panorama, which said police wanted to place the child in care but were persuaded by social services to return him to his abusive mother.

The death of the toddler has sparked a major child care investigation at the London borough. Baby P suffered more than 50 injuries despite 60 visits from the authorities over eight months.

When the child was admitted to the North Middlesex Hospital in June last year with non-accidental injuries police at the scene wanted to take him into care, according to the programme.

Panorama said it obtained a confidential police report that described a "frank exchange of views" between police and Haringey social services, who allegedly preferred to return him to his mother.

The police eventually signed a care plan that allowed Baby P to be returned home only to suffer further abuse before his death in August last year.

In a statement, Haringey Council denied a claim that Senior Social Worker Sylvia Henry's concerns about placing Baby P in the care of a family friend in December 2006 were overruled by her manager, Clive Preece.

It said: "This is not true. He did not overrule concerns of social workers. No concerns were raised regarding placement with the friend at the time of the placement."

In addition, the council said the decision to return Baby P to his mother in January 2007 was not made by Mr Preece, as alleged in the documentary.

The council added: "We have accepted that more could have been done to protect Baby P. We are truly sorry for that."