The House of Lords has ruled that a Bradford police sergeant was not victimised by his Chief Constable who refused to give him a job reference because he had a race discrimination claim pending against the force.

The Law Lords' decision yesterday has stripped Detective Sergeant Raham Noor Khan of a £1,500 victimisation award from the West Yorkshire force.

The verdict also brings to an end a drawn-out legal battle likely to see costs running into hundreds of thousands of pounds. The case began in October 1996 when Det Sgt Khan, 44, of Allerton, applied for a job with Norfolk Police. At the time he had already brought a race discrimination case against West Yorkshire Police, alleging his supervisory officers had refused to support his attempts for promotion.

The then Chief Constable, Keith Hellawell, refused to give him a reference on the grounds it may influence the claim.

A subsequent Employment Tribunal awarded Mr Khan £1,500 for victimisation. West Yorkshire Police unsuccessfully appealed against the decision at the Employment Appeals Tribunal and then at the Court of Appeal.

However yesterday Law Lords Nicholls, Mackay, Hoffman, Hutton and Scott overturned that decision and stripped Mr Khan of his award, ruling that the refusal of a reference was not a response to the fact that Mr Khan had launched proceedings but a response to the fact the hearing of those proceedings was pending. Det Sgt Khan, now with Eccleshill CID, said: "I am very disappointed that the House of Lords has allowed this appeal.

"I believe the way I was treated was wrong, and I am concerned that employers might see this as a free rein to penalise employees who bring discrimination complaints."

Richard Critchley, secretary of the West Yorkshire branch of the Police Federation said: "We have not seen the written reasons yet ...but as far as any right of appeal is concerned it looks like we have reached the end of the road."

Ajaz Hussain, solicitor for West Yorkshire Police said: "This is a victory for common sense."