A TEACHER who has been suspended on full pay for nearly six years despite being cleared of child abuse allegations has won the right to get his job back.

Mr Anthony McNally has been given the green light by the Court of Appeal to apply for reinstatement at Woodhey High School, Ramsbottom where he taught English from 1979 until a 15-year-old boy made allegations of "inappropriate touching" against him.

The 51-year-old said his life and career had been "blighted" by the untrue allegations.

His union, the NASUWT, accused Bury Council of going to inordinate lengths to stop him from returning to work. The local education authority intervened after Mr McNally was cleared of any wrong-doing and had him re-suspended on the grounds that the children's protection committee expressed concerns about the case.

Education chiefs approached the then Secretary of State, Gillian Shephard, to have him barred permanently from teaching.

She refused but directed the governors to re-open the case.

In March 1999 Mr David Blunkett, education secretary, asked the governors to re-open the inquiry for the third time after the LEA argued that the original investigation was fatally flawed because the authority's chief education officer had not been involved in the proceedings.

Mr McNally lost his fight to have Mr Blunkett's decision overturned last year but yesterday Lord Justice Kennedy said there was no justification for the secretary of state's intervention.