A YORK father fighting to get contact rights to the son he has not seen for a year has been promised help from one of Britain's top judges.

The father, in his forties, split from his partner of 22 years at the beginning of 2003.

She took their six-year-old son to live with her and her new partner in Holland, after being given permission to do so by a judge at York Crown Court earlier this year.

She also accused the father of sexually abusing the boy, claims which were investigated and quickly dropped by the police and child protection agencies in this country.

The father wants his rights of contact decided in York, but a judge in Newcastle last year ruled that the matter should be dealt with in the boy's new country of residence.

The father, who cannot speak Dutch, says that he is being prejudiced by the decision, and that the allegations of abuse are being brought up again in the Dutch court, despite him having been cleared once already.

He appeared at London's Court of Appeal to ask Lord Justice Thorpe and Lord Justice Dyson for permission to appeal against the order that his case be heard in Holland.

But, while Lord Justice Thorpe refused his application, telling him his bid to overturn the judge's ruling was "almost hopeless", he did promise to personally contact the Family Court in Holland to speak on his behalf and help explain the difficulties he is facing.

Having elicited a promise from court-appointed social workers to "do their best" to help the father in his legal struggle by getting him proper representation in Holland, the judge said: "I will independently endeavour to communicate the concerns in this jurisdiction that there will be an expedited conclusion to the hearing of these allegations which, until determination, simply extend the interruption between father and child."

Updated: 09:39 Thursday, July 07, 2005