A FORMER policeman banned from working in every police station in the country has begun a legal challenge to overturn the order.

Alan Thompson, from Gosforth, Newcastle, lost his job after 18 years of service after being found guilty of using "sexually offensive language" to a female colleague in 1999.

Mr Thompson denies any misconduct and is now trying to overturn a ban from all police stations which prevents him working as a legal advisor.

The case is viewed as so important that it is being heard by three of England's most senior judges, including Lord Chief Justice Woolf, at London's Appeal Court.

A High Court ruling last July upheld the ban which prevents Mr Thompson attending police stations in his capacity as a trainee solicitor's representative.

During the one-day appeal hearing, Lord Woolf told lawyers that he was concerned about Mr Thompson's capacity to make a living following his dismissal from the police force.

The court heard that, since the ban, Mr Thompson has had to turn down offers of work.

Gavin Millar, QC, for Mr Thompson, told judges: "He is not a criminal and the disciplinary proceedings did not involve allegations of dishonesty."

Mr Millar said the appeal raised the important issue of whether the police have the power to overrule a decision made by the Legal Aid Board and Legal Services Commission that Mr Thompson is a fit person to act as a probationary solicitor's representative.

But police lawyers told the Appeal Court that Mr Thompson's ongoing attempts to overturn the disciplinary finding, and the possibility of his eventual re-instatement, rendered him unsuited to giving the independent advice to which suspects are entitled.

After a day of legal argument, the judges reserved their decision in the case, saying they would give their ruling as soon as possible.