British war veterans were celebrating a breakthrough today after the Japanese admitted their treatment of prisoners of war did violate human rights.

The admission was made by a Tokyo judge during a compensation claim brought by Dutch former PoWs.

He rejected their bid for £13,000, saying it was not justified under international law.

But he admitted the veterans were ill-treated.

Last week, the court threw out a £330,000 claim brought by British, American, New Zealand and Australian PoWs.

Arthur Titherington, 76, of Church Green, Witney, chairman of the Japanese Labour Camp Survivors' Association, welcomed the ruling. He said: "I now call on our Government to step up the pressure and force the Japanese to pay us."

Last week, Mr Titherington risked arrest by spitting at the Japanese parliament building.

He said the outburst was a reaction to the "kick in the teeth" he felt after a Tokyo court ruled that his claim for compensation, for his treatment during the Second World War, was inadmissable.

Mr Titherington was one of only 90 survivors of 523 British labourers at a copper mine in Taiwan during his captivity.

He weighed just five-and-a-half stone when he was liberated.

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