A Bingley nurse has been found guilty of misconduct and struck off the register for sleeping on duty and leaving a nursing home without cover.

But Conrad Archibald, 49, was cleared of leaving a 90-year-old resident on a commode for three hours and of failing to participate in patient care.

The hearing, organised by the Nursing and Midwifery Council, had been told that on December 8, 2000, the frail woman was forced to sleep on a toilet at the Laurel Mount Nursing Home in Woodville Road, Keighley, after the nurse abandoned her so he could enjoy a nap on duty.

But Pat Dwan, chairman of the disciplinary committee which heard the charges, said: "There is reasonable doubt whether the respondent believed arrangements were in place to care for the resident."

The nurse also left his post to collect take-away food and tend to his sick dog, the committee heard.

Finding him guilty on these charges, Mr Dwan ordered the nurse's expulsion from the profession. He added: "Sleeping on duty and leaving the home without a trained nurse has the potential to put patients at risk."

The committee has decided to remove his name from the register with immediate effect.

Archibald was sacked from his post at the home in January 2001 after the allegations came to light.

Wendy Ashton, the matron of the home, said that the nurse had previously received a verbal warning in January 1999 for his poor attitude toward patients' needs.

"He wasn't helping the girls with the rounds and basically they were struggling. He was reluctant to go and help any of the residents," she added. Archibald handed care of elderly residents to two unqualified care assistants while he slept on chairs pushed together.

The misconduct occurred while he worked on night shifts as a charge nurse at the home between January 1999 and January 2001.

Former colleague Kay Wilson told the hearing: "He was lazy. He did not really care. He did not help us.

"He used to bed down most nights. He used to get a pillow from the store room and a duvet. He could sleep for up to three hours - maybe longer."

She said she regularly saw the nurse leaving the home to collect food from a take-away in East Parade, Keighley, and he would be absent for an hour or more.

"One time he had to go home because he had trapped his dog's tail in the door and had to dress the dog's tail," she recalled.