A WOMAN who was arrested and spent hours in police cells for a crime she had not committed is still fighting for an apology five years later.

Otley resident Rosalyn Tucker and her father, George Barclay, have so far failed to win an explanation or an apology from West Yorkshire Police after Mrs Tucker was unexpectedly arrested for theft in October 1995.

A police investigation concluded Mrs Tucker's arrest was not unlawful even though she was later released without charge.

The family protested via the Police Complaints Authority and through MP Harold Best about Mrs Tucker's treatment in police hands.

The drama began when Mrs Tucker - then Miss Barclay - went shopping with her mother in the Safeway supermarket, Westgate, on October 4, 1995.

Unknown to them, a neighbour had had her purse snatched in the store. Although the woman gave descriptions of three thieves, another person in the store mistakenly linked Mrs Tucker to the crime, and gave a description of her car.

Mr Barclay said shortly afterwards police arrested Mrs Tucker, who had known her neighbour for years. The three real thieves had also been caught on camera in the supermarket.

Mrs Tucker was taken to Weetwood Police Station, and despite being in pain with an accident injury, was left in a cell on an uncomfortable wooden bench.

She said: "They put me in a holding cell. It was just horrible. I asked them to call my mother but they said they were probably going to arrest her, too. I was horrified."

Mrs Tucker claimed she was immediately treated like a criminal by police at Weetwood, even though she had never before set foot in a police station. She even began to fear she had had a blackout and had unwittingly stolen the purse.

She says that police did not contact her parents for more than two hours. Mrs Tucker was eventually released without charge, and without apology or explanation.

She opted to lodge a complaint with the Police Complaints Authority, and says she was advised by officers to take up an informal complaint. The investigation concluded the police had acted properly.

But she and her father now feel they should have been advised to go for a full formal complaint.

Mr Best took up the matter with the Home Office and West Yorkshire Police, but also drew a blank.

The only course of action left for the family is to go to the civil courts - which could cost tens of thousands of pounds. The family is already out of pocket after having to pay £400 solicitor's bills.

Mr Barclay said: "She has always been a law-abiding member of the community, and what rights does she have? I don't want somebody else to go through this."

He questioned whether there should be changes to police complaints procedures.

But West Yorkshire Police this week issued a short statement simply saying they had investigated and dealt with the complaint.

A spokeswoman said: "We have received a complaint from Mrs Tucker alleging an unlawful arrest. The matter was fully investigated and resolved."