AN Army officer accused of calling a female captain a ''blonde, thick bimbo'' yesterday said her opinion of her changed after the captain demanded an apology from two soldiers for calling her a bitch, a tribunal heard.

Lieutenant Colonel Jean Kennedy, now retired, said her opinion of Captain Janet Kelly altered following an incident during an Army skiing trip to Canada.

Capt Kelly, 35, of Middlesbrough, is suing the Ministry of Defence for sexual discrimination, claiming her superior officer called her a ''blonde, thick bimbo'' while both were at Catterick Garrison, in North Yorkshire.

Lt Col Kennedy denied using the word ''thick'' and said she used the words ''blonde bimbo'' but not directly at Capt Kelly.

The Newcastle tribunal heard that Lt Col Kennedy maintained she told Capt Kelly during a meeting about her career prospects that if she addressed an Army board in the way she was talking to her, they would think she was a blonde bimbo.

Lt Col Kennedy told the tribunal Capt Kelly was a capable officer, but her opinion of her diminished following the skiing trip incident, in which the captain argued with a private and a sergeant.

On her return to Catterick Garrison she told her commanding officer, Lt Col Kennedy, that the men should be disciplined and that she wanted an apology.

Lt Col Kennedy said: ''I told her I thought she had failed to deal with the situation appropriately."

She added that on other occasions the captain persisted in organising happy hours in the officers' mess which proved disastrous and that she easily became distracted.

Capt Kelly claims the remark and Lt Col Kennedy's comments about her prior to an Army board interview to decide if she would be granted a regular commission ended her career.

The tribunal continues