A NORTH-EAST solicitor who buried his head in the sand in the face of complaints was suspended indefinitely from the solicitors' roll yesterday.

Timothy Husbands, 36, of Petch's Cottages, Liverton, Saltburn, east Cleveland, will have to explain himself before the Solicitors' Disciplinary Tribunal in London if he wishes to practice again.

Mr Husbands, who until yesterday practiced as Timothy N C Husbands, at 1 High Street, Loftus, did not attend the disciplinary hearing.

The tribunal heard how he failed to respond to letters and telephone calls from the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors after complaints from Midland Bank and another firm of solicitors in Rotherham.

Stephen Battersby, solicitor for the Law Society, said: "He has never really thought to explain what has happened, other than to say one of his files went missing. It is a case where he buried his head in the sand."

The complaints against Mr Husbands did not involve dishonesty but "persistent and prolonged failures to do what ought to have been done".

Tribunal chairman Alan Ground, sitting with Caroline Pickering and Colin Chesterton, said: "The allegations are not contested and we find them proved. We consider the appropriate penalty is an indefinite suspension.

"If he wants it to be lifted he will have to come to the tribunal and explain himself."