Police chiefs' race row plods on

Assistant Commissioner Tarique Ghaffur said he has no plans to resign despite sparking a race row at New Scotland Yard. Commissioner Sir Ian Blair publicly ordered his colleague to put up or shut up as he was forced to defend his record on diversity.

The two men held a crisis meeting in central London after news emerged that Mr Ghaffur was preparing an employment tribunal case against his force, alleging racial discrimination.

Arriving at the meeting, Mr Ghaffur told reporters he had nothing to fear, saying: "I have the great privilege of working with hundreds of police officers in making London safer. These officers work day in and day out and do a brilliant job.

"It is also a great privilege in doing the work I do with communities and the great amount of work in relation to the Olympics. I intend to continue in doing that."

Leaked details of Mr Ghaffur's claims threatened to plunge Scotland Yard into a massive race row. Colleagues said the senior officer believed he was being sidelined in his role preparing for the 2012 Olympics.

Mr Ghaffur is believed to have also attacked the behaviour of Sir Ian and Police Authority's chair Len Duvall in documents drawn up by a senior barrister. It is understood that relations between the two senior officers had broken down to such an extent that they would only speak at formal meetings.

Sir Ian said he hoped issues at the meeting between the two men would be "resolved satisfactorily".

The Commissioner does not have the power to sack Mr Ghaffur but he could refer the matter to the Police Authority for further investigation.

Speaking earlier, Sir Ian said any suggestion he would not speak to Mr Ghaffur was "complete nonsense".