A BANKRUPT man fighting to keep a roof over his head this Christmas, is taking his case to the House of Lords.

Ted Winter, 64, has been locked in a battle with the legal profession for 20 years since his hotel, the Queen's Hotel, Stockton, was destroyed in a fire in 1981.

Mr Winter, who lives in Yarm, claims he was given flawed legal advice which resulted in a £120,000 capital gains debt growing, with penalties and interest, to £250,000.

He recently lost an appeal after attempting to sue five law firms for alleged collusion and suppression of documents because he ran out of time. But the one-time-millionaire has revealed he has found a lawyer in Nottingham keen to prepare a case for the House of Lords.

Mr Winter, who has been declared bankrupt and whose home is now up for sale, said: "There is no way I am going to lose my home.

"I am taking this to the House of Lords.

"After suffering two heart attacks and having major open heart surgery, I am not going to give up now.

"I have had years of hell, and there is no way I will give up until I have justice.''

Mr Winter won the sym- pathy of a judge when, in December 1993, he appeared at Teesside Crown Court, and admitted threatening the lives of a litigation manager at a firm of solicitors and a tax advisor, in Stokesley.

When his barrister said Mr Winter had been given "flawed'' legal advice, the judge in charge of the case said he sympathised with his case and gave him a 12 month conditional discharge.

This week, Mr Winter said if the Lords uphold his case he would hand over the now cleared site of his hotel, in Bishopton Road, to The James Cook University Hospital, where surgeons and nurses saved his life.

"All I want is justice - not a penny more, but I will fight this to the bitter end," said Mr Winter whose losses, according to accountants, amount to £3.5m.