His London solicitor is expected to apply for bail at Bow Street Magistrates' Court on Friday.

Magistrate Graham Parkinson is considering hearing the bail application at the ailing general's bedside.

Joshua Rozenberg: "Judgement is the very best Pinochet could have hoped for"

Gen Pinochet's lawyers had argued that his arrest pending an extradition request by a Spanish judge investigating allegations of murder, torture and kidnapping was unlawful.

Quashing the arrest warrants, Lord Bingham, the Lord Chief Justice, said: "The applicant is entitled as a former head of state to immunity from civil and criminal proceedings of the English court."

But he said the 82-year-old general should remain in detention "pending the termination of any appeal against this decision".

Judge will take it all the way up

Judge Baltasar Garzon, who is seeking the former general's extradition to Spain, has been given permission to appeal to the House of Lords - the highest court of appeal in the UK.

But the BBC's Legal Affairs Correspondent, Joshua Rozenberg, said: "When Lord Bingham granted leave to appeal he did so because of the importance of the case, not because the judges were in any doubt about the eventual outcome."

General Pinochet: Will not be tried under UK law

Gen Pinochet was also awarded legal costs, believed to be about £350,000.

The appeal is expected to be heard in the House of Lords next week.

Chile hails ruling

Chile welcomed the High Court ruling. Its Deputy Foreign Minister, Mariano Fernandez, told reporters in London: "The Chilean Government is very happy and satisfied that the British High Court has recognised Senator Pinochet's immunity."

There were angry scenes outside the court as police held back demonstrators who chased officials down the street.

Chile's Deputy Foreign Minister Mariano Fernandez: "We want to deal with our own problems"

About a dozen protesters chanted abuse as officials walked through police lines.

Gen Pinochet was detained in London on 16 October while recuperating from surgery.

He was arrested at the request of Spanish judges seeking to extradite the former dictator to face charges related to more than 4,000 political killings alleged to have taken place during his 1973-1990 rule in Chile.

Speaking for the general, Clive Nicholls QC, had argued that his arrest was not legally justified on several grounds, including immunity from arrest for actions committed while he was head of state.

He told the court on Monday that both the original warrant and an "unprecedented" second warrant were "fatally flawed" and that a United Nations court would be the proper forum.

Other requests pending

Since the arrest, Switzerland has also applied for his extradition and Sweden could follow suit.

But the BBC's legal affairs correspondent, Joshua Rozenberg, says the High Court decision looks likely to rule out all other extradition requests.

Lucia Pinochet leaves the London Clinic in a taxi after visiting her husband

He said the judge ruled that only an international tribunal could have dealt with the charges outside Chile because of the law of "sovereign immunity", which protects heads of state while in other countries.

In a separate development, the Attorney General, John Morris QC, has refused to give his consent for the private prosecution of Gen Pinochet on torture offences by anyone in the UK.

He was responding to a case brought to him by four alleged victims of his regime.

Chilean exile Vicente Alegria reacts angrily to the judges' decision

Lawyers acting for three Chileans living in the UK and a fourth based in Lebanon had requested permission to pursue a private criminal prosecution under the Criminal Justice Act 1988.

Mr Morris's office said the applications for consent were turned down because "there is insufficient admissible evidence under English law of an offence".