TWO former police officers at the centre of an embarrassing incident in which they were accused of urinating against a Lithuanian royal palace wall have launched a company teaching policing ethics.

Former Cleveland Police Chief Superintendent Kevin Pitt and former Inspector Kerry Anderson are the directors and founders of a not-for-profit company, Ethics In Policing Limited.

Both are pictured on the company website, which describes itself as "specialists in ethical consultancy, research and training within the policing arena".

Last night, Cleveland Police and the University of Teesside, with whom the pair had ethics teaching roles in Lithuania, attempted to distance themselves from the venture.

However, Mr Pitt received backing from his MP Frank Cook, who represents Stockton North.

Mr Pitt was required to resign his post following the urinating incident in Vilnius, in February 2002, for which he was later convicted by a court.

Mr Anderson escaped prosecution, but was disciplined by Cleveland Police after he admitted he was the culprit.

He kept his job, retiring in March last year.

A spokeswoman for Cleveland Police said: "These two men are no longer serving police officers and we don't have any links with their new company."

The University of Teesside, which set up the trip to Lithuania as part of a European Union contract to teach anti-corruption techniques to Government officials, also said it had no involvement.

A spokesman said: "The university provides its own ethics training for police."

Mr Cook said: "I don't know what the motivation is behind this, but what I can say is that the verdict in Lithuania and the penalty Kevin Pitt received, was quite disgraceful.

"The evidence showed he was not responsible for the incident in question, yet his force, Cleveland Police, refused to support him."

Mr Pitt, from Billingham, Teesside, recently failed in a second bid to overturn a conviction he received in Lithuania for the incident and has said he will take the battle to clear his name to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

He said: "It is because of what happened in Lithuania that we are doing this. It is about challenging what happened there.

"Having tasted it from the sharp end, it is important that something like this is done."