A FORMER police officer who claims that he was subjected to an anti-English campaign by Lothian and Borders Police described yesterday how he was subjected to a torrent of abuse by a senior officer for being five minutes late, writes .

Mr Alan Caulfield, 42, a former sergeant with the force, told an industrial tribunal that he was sworn at repeatedly and prodded in the chest to the point that the officer's behaviour became ''threatening''.

Despite having 14 years service with the Metropolitan Police, he had dropped a rank on transfer to Scotland in 1989 to take account of the differences in the legal system.

He said that the incident happened shortly after transfer while on a two-week induction course at Fettes police headquarters. An inspector had challenged him in the corridor for being five minutes late for class.

''He was using foul language, he was so angry that I could not even understand what he was saying. The inspector was prodding me in the chest and he was getting quite threatening,'' said Mr Caulfield.

Mr Caulfield, who now owns a book shop in Edinburgh, further claimed that senior officers attempted to cover up evidence that they had racially discriminated against him.

According to Mr Caulfield, he was rejected for promotion as a uniformed sergeant only to find that another English officer of the same rank had been selected for interview.

Mr Caulfield blames Detective Chief Superintendent Ronald Turnbull for sidelining him.

He had previously said that a secret memo had been attached to a personnel file which he believed had hindered his career prospects.

However, Lothian and Borders Police denied the existence of such a memo after a written request from Mr Caulfield.

The tribunal continues.