A consultant surgeon accused of the manslaughter of an elderly patient from Liversedge has been cleared on the orders of a judge.

Consultant urologist Hurais Syed, 48, has been on trial for the past four weeks at Leeds Crown Court accused of killing 78-year-old Gladys Allen at Dewsbury District Hospital.

A jury heard how Mr Syed, of Acton, south west London, operated on Mrs Allen to remove a cancerous kidney on January 28, 2000.

The prosecution claimed the pensioner bled to death due to Syed's "gross negligence".

But the Recorder of Leeds, Judge Norman Jones QC, accepted an application from Robert Smith QC that there was no case to answer. The judge said the prosecution had failed to establish a breach of duty of care to the patient.

He said the jury had also been presented with conflicting information about the amount of blood Mrs Allen had lost in theatre.

The judge said: "The prosecution have failed to overcome the first hurdle - namely that there was a breach of the duty of care."

He said other surgeons had given evidence in which they acknowledged that other competent surgeons would have undertake the operation in certain circumstances.

After the jury formally declared a not guilty verdict, Mr Syed's solicitor spoke on his client's behalf.

Richard Reed said: "He is immensely relieved that his ordeal is over. He wishes to express his regret for the trauma Gladys Allen's family have endured, including listening to the case over the last four weeks.

"One of his real concerns is that cases such as this may lead other surgeons to practise defensive medicine in the future in that they may hesitate to operate in similar circumstances where fine judgements apply."

Mr Syed remains suspended from work, pending the outcome of a General Medical Council hearing, Mr Reed added.

Mrs Allen's family declined to comment.