A DEAF former soldier's fight to claim a war pension from the Government was kept alive at London's High Court yesterday.

Thomas Lynch, 72, of Forster Street, Roker, Sunderland, says his deafness resulted from exposure to excessive noise during National Service with the Royal Artillery. He is seeking a pension to compensate him for his disability.

His application to the War Pensions Agency in 1992 was refused. He appealed against that decision in 2002 and, after a legal wrangle, it was granted on March 8 this year by the Pension Appeals Tribunal.

Yesterday, Secretary of State for Defence Geoffrey Hoon successfully applied for a judicial review of the tribunal's decision to allow the appeal, and it was overturned by Mr Justice Davis.

But the judge refused to dismiss Mr Lynch's appeal and ordered his case be reviewed by the tribunal.

Keith Morton, for the secretary of state, said Mr Lynch's application had been outside the time limit to appeal against the original decision of the War Pensions Agency.

Mr Justice Davis agreed that the tribunal's reasons for allowing Mr Lynch to appeal late had been flawed and "based on an assessment of the law which was either wrong or irrelevant".

But the judge refused Mr Morton's request that he take away Mr Lynch's right to ask for permission to appeal again.