A HIGH Court judge has been put on 24-hour call to try and stop a County Durham born businessman being extradited to Singapore.

Financial advisor Michael McCrea was arrested in Melbourne, Australia, after going on the run only days before two decomposing bodies were discovered in his limousine.

The Singapore Government wants to extradite him for trial for the killings of his chauffeur and the driver's girlfriend.

Australian Justice Minster Chris Ellison is thought to ready to rubber-stamp an application for him to be sent to Singapore for trial.

But lawyers for McCrea say they are ready to go to court within twenty minutes of any unfavourable decision.

They will attempt to get an injunction preventing their client from being deported immediately.

If successful this would almost certainly lead to a public hearing - to decide if the minister was right to approve the extradition.

Known for its tough stance on crime, Singapore has a mandatory death sentence for offences such as murder.

Its Law Ministry has promised that McCrea would not hang if convicted of killing 46-year-old father-of-three Kho Nai Guan and his 30-year-old girlfriend Lan Ya Ming.

But McCrea's lawyers remain unsatisfied with the guarantees arguing he should instead be deported to the UK.

Solicitor Terry Grundy said: "We don't know for sure that the minister is going to rule against Michael, but we've got to be prepared and I don't think the Australians want to offend the Singapore government.

"Our barrister is briefed, the papers are ready and we've been promised access to a High Court judge within 20 minutes at any time of day or night."