A retired lieutenant colonel is taking the Army to an industrial tribunal today over racial discrimination allegations in one of the first cases of its kind.

Dr Surinder Saggar, a veteran of the first Gulf War, claims he was the victim of racial abuse during a posting in Cyprus at the end of his 20-year career with the Army.

It is thought that the legal challenge is one of the first by a senior military officer connected to an overseas posting, and the tribunal comes in the wake of a landmark legal decision last year.

While the case was initially dismissed by an employment tribunal on the basis that UK law could not be applied to allegations of discrimination overseas, a ruling by the Court of Appeal in London marked a watershed in employment law and paved the way for today's hearing which will be held in Newcastle.

Dr Saggar, 67, a former consultant anaesthetist from Brompton-on-Swale in North Yorkshire, has declined to comment ahead of the tribunal.

But a spokesman for his solicitors, Scotts Wright, said: ''The judgment of the Court of Appeal was a significant decision of general importance and also of huge importance to Dr Saggar as it enabled him to continue with his complaints.''

The Ministry of Defence said it could not comment ahead of the tribunal.