A LANDMARK court ruling could open the floodgates for North-East servicemen suing the Ministry of Defence.

High Court judge Mr Justice Keith said on Monday that a bar on former members of the forces suing the Government for alleged negligence was incompatible with the Human Rights Act.

The so-called Section Ten bar was passed by the Government in 1947 and, although it was repealed in 1987, servicemen employed before that date are still governed by it.

This prevents them from claiming compensation for injuries sustained in the armed forces.

The judge made the ruling in a case brought by Alan Matthews, from Exeter, Devon, who claims to have been exposed to asbestos dust while working as an electrical engineer on naval vessels, between 1955 and 1968.

The judge said Section Ten amounted to a restriction on the right of access to the courts, and appeared to breach Mr Matthews' right to a fair hearing before an independent tribunal under Article Six of the European Convention on Human Rights.

While the ruling does not amount to a change in the law, it is thought likely to influence future legislation, or at least pave the way to the European Court of Human Rights.

Among those eligible to benefit would be Korean war veterans.

Derrick Slasor, treasurer of the Durham and Cleveland branch of the British Korean Veterans, welcomed the news yesterday.

He said: "I'm delighted and will certainly put it to the branch."

But he added that, in his view, few of his generation of servicemen would take up the opportunity.

"A lot of people who were in Korea would be able to claim for trauma, but I don't think it is in our make-up," he said.