Cold war spy George Blake will not be paid �90,000 from the publication of his autobiography, the House of Lords has ruled.

Blake, 76, was a British secret agent from 1944 until 1961 when he was jailed for 42 years after being caught spying for the former Soviet Union.

In 1966 he escaped from prison in London and fled to Russia, where he has lived ever since.

The House of Lords upheld an earlier ruling stopping Blake receiving the profits from the sales of "No Other Choice", which he wrote 10 years ago about his career with the secret service, MI6.

Reversal

Four years ago a High Court judge dismissed the attorney general's bid to stop Blake from making money from the book.

The Appeal Court later reversed that decision, because of a law that bars criminals from profiting from their crimes.

Blake, who has already received �50,000 for writing the book, caused the deaths of several British agents when he became a Soviet spy.