DEAF charity worker Ian Stillman has had an application to be transferred to a different Indian prison refused.

The news has shocked his family, who thought the move would be a formality.

Ian, 51, whose parents live in Tadcaster Road, York, was jailed for ten years after being convicted of cannabis possession, a charge he has always denied.

He had asked to be moved from his prison in Shimla, in the Himalayas, to one in Tamil Nadu, in the south of India.

Tamil Nadu would have taken him thousands of miles closer to his wife, children and friends and given him access to better health care. As well as being deaf, he had a leg amputated after a road accident and is diabetic.

His sister Elspeth Dugdale said: "It would appear the refusal is on some crazy technical point.

"We have requested a couple of copies of the jail manuals for Tamil Nadu and will take up a legal challenge to the decision if we have to. We need to win this battle."

She said the British Government had already contacted Indian officials about their decision.

"The Foreign Office realise that the transfer is vital for Ian's health and so have already challenged the decision," she said.

She added that Foreign Secretary Jack Straw was planning to meet LK Advani, the Indian deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, on Wednesday.

She said: "It is hoped that Ian's case might at least be on the agenda for discussion.

"We will ask the Indian High Commission for a family meeting with Mr Advani. It seems a long shot, but from the 'don't ask don't get' point of view, it may be worth a try."

Ian, a father of two and committed Christian, moved to India nearly 30 years ago to set up a charity working with the country's deaf.

The Evening Press has been campaigning for his release after hearing that he was denied a sign language translator at his trial, effectively excluding him from taking any part in it. A leading human rights lawyer called it the worst miscarriage of justice he has dealt with.

Updated: 08:23 Monday, August 19, 2002