A BID by Lord Lucan's son to gain a death certificate for his father must now wait until a High Court hearing next year

Yesterday at the Royal Courts of Justice senior official Master Teverson said that the case should be heard between the beginning of February and the end of March.

The missing peer's only son, George Bingham, has applied under the Presumption of Death Act, which came into effect a year ago, so he can inherit the title as 8th Earl.

Lord Lucan vanished after Sandra Rivett, nanny to his three children, was found murdered at the family home at Lower Belgrave Street, central London, on November 7, 1974.

On the night of the peer's disappearance, the nanny's attacker also turned on Lord Bingham's mother, Lady Lucan, beating her severely before she managed to escape and raise the alarm at a nearby pub.

Lucan's car was found abandoned and soaked in blood in Newhaven and an inquest jury declared him the killer a year later.

Lord Bingham attended the brief hearing and said afterwards that the time for comment was when the case returned to court.

Even though Lord Lucan was officially declared dead by the High Court in 1999, there have been reported sightings in Australia, Ireland, South Africa and New Zealand, and even claims that he fled to India and lived life as a hippy called "Jungly Barry".

Lord Bingham says the 1999 declaration had not proved death "for all purposes" and the new law allows for a "more complete process".

Lord Bingham's counsel, Michael Bloch QC, told Master Teverson that Mr Berriman no longer objected to the orders sought "but his concerns as to historical matters remain as sensitive as ever".

Master Teverson said that Mr Berriman, who now felt he had a great deal in common with Lord Bingham, should be allowed to intervene as he had a sufficient interest in the determination of the application .

Mr Berriman, 47, has previously told a national newspaper: "I don't know if Lord Lucan is alive or not - but I want justice. There have been too many cover-ups already and he should not be declared dead. If Lord Lucan is still alive, he should be prosecuted."