The Ministry of Defence has started an attempt to overturn a landmark legal ruling which officially recognises Gulf War Syndrome

The MoD is hoping to appeal against a decision by a pensions tribunal which recognised former Parachute Regiment medic Shaun Rusling as suffering from the condition.

Mr Rusling, from Hull, won his case in April, opening the way for thousands of veterans to claim they also suffer from the Syndrome.

But the MoD is claiming the condition does not exist, despite many veterans reporting a wide range of debilitating symptoms.

'Ill-defined condition'

Steven Kovats, representing the Veterans Agency on behalf of Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon, told the hearing at Leeds there had been no issue at the original tribunal.

The MoD had already accepted Mr Rusling was disabled as a result of active service, he said.

Mr Kovats said the former medic who treated many Iraqi wounded, had been granted a disablement pension in 1993 because he suffered from the "signs and symptoms of an ill-defined condition".

"There was no part of Mr Rusling's case that was not accepted by the Secretary of State other than the label itself," he said.

Mr Rusling, the chairman of the National Gulf War Veterans and Families Association, told the hearing he had been diagnosed by his doctor as suffering from Gulf War Syndrome and treated accordingly.

The ruling of the pensions appeal tribunal will be released at a later date.