Asian police chief in race claim

Mr Ghaffur claims he was discriminated against by the Met

The country's most senior Asian police officer has lodged a £1.2m claim of racial discrimination against his own force, BBC News understands.

Assistant Commissioner Tarique Ghaffur lodged the claim against the Metropolitan Police with an employment tribunal on Friday.

He claims he was discriminated against on grounds of race, religion and age.

The Metropolitan Police (Met) said they could not comment until they received details of the claim.

Mr Ghaffur is head of security planning for London's 2012 Olympics.

His claim is understood to be for £1.2m in loss of earnings and damages.

'Saddened'

In June he made a number of allegations against the Met, which included claims he was silenced over his concerns about detaining terrorist suspects for up to 42 days.

Mr Ghaffur also said he had been sidelined by Met Commissioner Sir Ian Blair in key decisions.

Sir Ian is believed to be named as one of the two respondents in Mr Ghaffur's claim.

A spokesman for the National Black Police Association confirmed that the papers were lodged at 1600 BST on Friday.

He said: "We are saddened that the case is going to an employment tribunal. We wanted it to be settled by mediation."

Further details about the claim are expected to be released next week.

Mr Ghaffur has spoken out against the police before.

In 2006 he said that Muslims were being discriminated against as the result of anti-terror legislation.

A decision by the tribunal panel is expected within the next month.