Irving denied appeal over holocaust case

Controversial historian David Irving has been denied the right to appeal against a libel ruling that described him as a "holocaust denier."

Irving was challenging the high court decision that dismissed his libel action against Penguin Books, which had published a book by Professor Deborah Lipstadt claiming that the historian had written an untrue account of the Nazi's treatment of Jews.

Irving had argued that Mr Justice Gray's decision had been invcorrect and that some of the evidence against him should not have been admitted.

Dismissing the appeal Lord Justice Pill said : "The judge was fully entitled to hold that the defence of justification succeeded."

The historian, who is currently publicising a book about Churchill, faces a bill of £150,000 towards the costs of the original trial.