A man has been given another chance in court to claim £2.5 million compensation after allegedly suffering two months of torture in a Saudi Arabian prison.

Tax adviser Ron Jones, from Crawley, is suing the Saudi authorities for damages for the 67 days he spent in jail two-and-a-half years ago.

He says he was blindfolded, shackled, beaten and forced to falsely confess to bombing a bookshop in Riyadh.

The case case for damages was thrown out by a High Court official in July on grounds that the country and the Saudi authorities had state immunity.

However, his lawyers immediately lodged an appeal with the Court of Appeal against both the striking-out decision and the award of £15,000 costs against Mr Jones.

A two-day hearing was yesterday arranged for May 11 and 12 next year.

Mr Jones filed two writs against the Ministry and his alleged torturer, Lieutenant Colonel Abul Aziz.

He had been working as a tax adviser to a Saudi petroleum firm when he was injured in a bombing in March 2001, and woke to find himself accused of the crime.

The Saudi government has disputed the torture allegations and denied knowledge of Mr Aziz.

Lawyers for the Saudi ministry argued Britain had no jurisdiction over Saudi Arabia in this case under the terms of the 1978 State Immunity Act.

Father-of-one Mr Jones and his legal team insist the torture allegations are so serious that state immunity should not apply.