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Swedish prosecutors are dropping a case against a woman accused of imprisoning her son, saying there was no evidence he had been held against his will.

The 70-year-old woman was accused of having kept her son confined to their flat in a suburb of the capital, Stockholm, for up to three decades.

She denied false imprisonment and grievous bodily harm after the son, now aged about 40, was found injured and living in squalor.

The woman has been freed from custody.

"We haven't found any indications that he has been locked up, tied up or physically prevented from leaving the scene. There are no indications that there have been locked spaces," prosecutor Emma Olsson told AFP news agency.

"The man himself has said that it was up to him if he wanted to leave the apartment," she said.

"He's an adult and could go out if he wanted," she added, noting that witnesses had also seen him outside on occasion.

Ms Olsson told reporters the man's injuries could not be attributed to violence.

Media reports said the man's sister had gone to the flat on Sunday after hearing that her mother was in hospital.

and had not seen her brother since.

As a child, she said, she had tried in vain to raise the alarm over the welfare of the child, who had been removed from school when he was aged 11 or 12.

Opening the unlocked door, she said she found the flat in darkness and reeking of urine, decay, dirt and dust. There was no answer when she shouted "hello" so she went in, picking her way through mounds of clutter.

Hearing a sound from the kitchen, she saw the man sitting in a dark corner, lit by a lamp on the street outside. Sores covered his legs up to his knees.

When he saw her, he stood up and whispered her name again and again. He had lost almost all his teeth and his voice was slurred, she told the paper.

Somehow, she said, he had recognised her and was not afraid of her.

When the man was taken to hospital, doctors alerted the police and the mother was detained.

Ms Olsson told AFP on Thursday that social services were now investigating the case, including reports of him being removed from school and isolated at home.

"One can question her suitability as a mother, but this is now up to social services to look into," she said.