A FORMER police chief has failed in a bid to have overturned a conviction for urinating on a presidential palace.

But ex-Chief Superintendent Kevin Pitt last night vowed to taken the case to the highest court in Europe to clear his name.

The ruling to uphold the original conviction was made yesterday at Supreme Administrative Court of the Republic of Lithuania.

It is the latest in a series of developments in the case, which dates back more than three years - but it will not be the last.

Mr Pitt, who was forced to resign after the scandal in February 2002, plans to continue the fight.

He said he will lodge another appeal with the court in Vilnius and, if that is unsuccessful, take the case to the Court of Appeal in Strasbourg.

"It is very disappointing," he said. "But I do believe one day the truth will come out.

"I was hoping this would be the end of it because I just want to get on with the rest of my life. But I will carry on and take this to the European court if I need to. I am not responsible for what happened."

Mr Pitt, 52, quit Cleveland Police when he returned from a trip to the Baltic country to teach Lithuanian police officers anti-corruption techniques.

Security camera footage appeared to show him urinating against the palace, but he insists he simply felt unwell and feared he was going to be sick.

He was fined in court, but his colleague, Inspector Kerry Anderson, who has since admitted urinating, was not prosecuted.

Insp Anderson admitted conduct likely to discredit the force at a subsequent Cleveland Police disciplinary hearing but was allowed to keep his job.

Mr Pitt, from Billingham, Teesside, said: "I don't know what more I need to do to prove that I am not guilty.

"It is on video, and the person who was responsible has owned up. It is just a ridiculous set of circumstances, but I suppose it indicates why we were there in the first place to teach them about corruption."