Police chief's bugging challenge

The former Merseyside Assistant Chief Constable, Alison Halford, was in court in Strasbourg yesterday to hear the last round in her legal battle which could force changes in Britain's phone-tapping laws. Miss Halford, once the highest-ranking female police officer in the country, claims her phones at work and at home were illegally bugged to try to discredit her - because she complained of sex discrimination in the force.

Her lawyers asked the judges at the European Court of Human Rights to rule that the phone taps were a breach of her right to privacy and freedom of expression, safeguarded by the European Convention on Human Rights, to which Britain is a signatory. A judgment is expected later this year.