But he refused leave to appeal because he said the intention of the law was clear.The issue arose over investigations by BBC journalists for the media programme, The Spin, which was eventually broadcast in October 1995 and is now the subject of a complaint to the BCC by the Barclay twins. They had refused permission for a personal interview and for entry to the island, but the reporter, John Sweeney, went there by dinghy and wandered around before being shipped back to Sark.Mark Shaw, for the BCC, had told the judge: "No doubt there was an invasion. The judge said the argument over the right to privacy in English law and its lack of conformity with the European Convention on Human Rights "will doubtless not end here". If successful, their action could have had a devastating effect on television documentary-making. They lodged an immediate protest with the Broadcasting Complaints Commission (BCC) after the reporter's incursion but were told nothing could be done until after any programme was broadcast.The 61-year-old brothers applied to the High Court for a judicial review of the BCC's interpretation of the part of the Broadcasting Act that governs its powers.But Mr Justice Sedley ruled that the law "at present places no general constraints upon invasions of privacy as such".He said that the Act "unambiguously limits the power of the BCC to adjudication upon complaints of infringement of privacy against the BBC arising out of programmes which have been broadcast".Under the statute governing the BCC's powers, and generally in English law, "the individual is without an effective remedy before a national authority if the right to respect for his or her private and family life is violated". The brothers, said to be worth around pounds 600m, took the action after a BBC2 television reporter landed on the Channel island of Brecqhou, on which they had spent millions buying and building a Gothic castle there.

The secretive businessmen David Barclay and his twin brother Frederick yesterday lost a High Court challenge to the law as it relates to privacy. It can be bought over the counter in chemists' for head lice and is a garden pesticide. Dr Jamal said the warnings in the leaflet which accompanies the head lice product were inadequate.Dimethyl phosphorothionate, otherwise known as fenitrothion, and azamethiphos are spray insecticides - the latter for killing flies in livestock houses, and Diazinon for use in sheep-dips.. Malathion, which the Ministry of Defence had already admitted taking to the Gulf, is regarded as one of the safest OPs. Dr Jamal said: ``There is evidence of physical damage to the nerves in the limbs.'' Furthermore, victims seem to suffer some memory loss, harm to their sense of balance, depression, fatigue and a change of personality which makes them prone to rages.All the pesticides listed by the Government are licensed for use in Britain following toxicity testing on animals.But they should only be used in strict accordance with safety rules, including the use of protective clothing, and there is evidence that both American and British troops failed to do that in the Gulf when the pesticides were sprayed. First there are flu-like symptoms of lethargy and dizziness, followed by a weakening of the muscles around the hips and shoulders after three days."Less is known about the more severe long-term effects,believed to result from repeated exposure. There is growing concern about their long term impacts on human health and the damage they do to nervous systems.

Research is continuing into how they affect peripheral nerves and the brain. In Britain, the fears have increased because of the hundreds of farmers who appear to have suffered severe, long-term illness after using OP sheep-dip chemicals. Dr Goran Jamal, a consultant at the Institute of Neurological Sciences in Glasgow, said: ``There's no dispute that there is a short-term effect on people exposed to OPs and an intermediate-term effect. Organophosphate (OP) pesticides are widely used against insects in agriculture. MoD denies the ailment exists.MAY 1994 - A committee of independent medical experts says that the illness does exist but fail to pinpoint a cause.NOVEMBER 1994 - 24 British Gulf war veterans have requests for legal aid granted to prepare claims against the MoD.FEBRUARY 1995 - 480 sufferers of the syndrome inform the MoD that they intend to sue for compensation.APRIL 1995 - Government announces in the Lords that it is not prepared to pay compensation.JUNE 1995 - Ministry of Defence dismisses Gulf war syndrome, saying that alleged sufferers are victims of chronic fatigue.NOVEMBER 1995 - The defence select commitee criticises the MoD for being insensitive to the victims of the syndrome.MARCH 1996 - Tests on veterans shows first physical evidence that the syndrome exists.. "I think there is a definite link," he said.The battle for recognitionFEBRUARY 1991 - The Gulf war ends.JUNE 1993 - Gulf war syndrome hits the headlines asToday newspaper reveals that hundreds of soldiers were suffering from bleeding gums, hair and weight loss and facial paralysis. Others attribute the symptoms to post-traumatic stress disorder brought on by the war itself.Mr Ash believes the latest MoD admission is evidence of similarities with the fate of some farmers who have become chronically depressed and violent after being exposed to pesticides used in sheep-dip.