THE legal team acting for a police chief who resigned amid claims he urinated on a presidential palace has lodged a second appeal against his conviction.

Former Chief Superintendent Kevin Pitt will travel to Lithuania for the hearing after his first appeal was dismissed by judges in the Baltic state last month.

Mr Pitt's solicitor in the capital Vilnius said new evidence had not been considered at the appeal, and that he was seeking a full re-hearing.

The 52-year-old resigned after the scandal in February 2002 and has spent the past three-and-a-half years fighting to clear his name.

If his next attempt to overturn the conviction is unsuccessful, Mr Pitt plans to take his case to the Court of Appeal in Strasbourg.

He said: "I will take this as far as I need to make sure the truth comes out. It could take a year or two, but I am not giving up."

Mr Pitt, from Billingham, Teesside, told how the stigma of the case was still affecting him and his attempts to find work.

He said: "I was recently put forward for a position and somebody submitted a letter saying they did not think I should get it because of my conviction in Lithuania."

Mr Pitt quit the force when he returned from the trip to Vilnius to teach anti-corruption techniques to Lithuanian police officers.

Security camera footage appeared to show him urinating against the palace, but he said he simply felt unwell and feared that he was going to be sick.

He was fined by the court, but his colleague, Inspector Kerry Anderson, who has since admitted urinating against the wall, was not prosecuted.

Insp Anderson admitted conduct likely to discredit the force at a subsequent Cleveland Police disciplinary hearing, but kept his job.