The Saudi government has denied the existence of a man accused of torturing a tax adviser from Mid Sussex.

Ron Jones, from Crawley, had been given a court date for his £2 million compensation claim against the Saudi authorities for his 67-day jail spell.

Mr Jones has said he was blindfolded, shackled, beaten and forced to confess to a bombing in Riyadh he did not commit while working in Saudi Arabia.

He is suing the Saudi interior ministry and a man he claims was one of his interrogators, Lieutenant Colonel Abdul Aziz.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has served the writ on the ministry and the case is set for a High Court hearing on May 23 to determine whether a trial is possible.

But a separate writ served by the Foreign Office on Mr Aziz, through the ministry, was returned to the British Embassy by Saudi authorities who claimed they did not know his identity.

Mr Jones issued a statement yesterday saying there was evidence Prince Naif, the minister of the interior, did know the alleged torturer.

A delegation from campaign group Human Rights Watch visited Saudi Arabia in January of this year and discussed Mr Jones' case with Prince Naif.

They said Prince Naif told them: "The investigator had exceeded his limits and may have been a little harsh in his treatment of Mr Jones".

The minister also apparently said the investigator had been punished and replaced.

The Saudi government has instructed its lawyers in London to apply to the High Court to have the writs "struck out".

They claim the English courts do not have jurisdiction in this case, citing the State Immunity Act of 1978.