A long-serving white policeman who says he was passed over for promotion to head "the most difficult area in the country for racial tension" in favour of an Asian colleague has lost his claim for race discrimination.

An employment tribunal has ruled against Peter Richmond, 44, who claimed an Asian officer was unfairly promoted to inspector instead of him in the previously riot-torn Manningham area of Bradford.

The tribunal was held between Mr Richmond, who has served in the Bradford district since 1981, and the Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police, after the police officer claimed race discrimination against the force.

He had been next in line for the job as inspector in the Bradford North division on an approved list of candidates but said he was overlooked for promotion because senior officers wanted a "visible ethnic minority officer", Kash Singh, to fill the high profile position.

Mr Richmond said the job should have been his because he had been successful in getting on a promotion list before Mr Singh and his bosses had discriminated against him because he is white.

But the tribunal judged that Chief Superintendent Allan Doherty, who put together the business case to promote Mr Singh above others including Mr Richmond, had been acting "in the best interests" of the troubled community, which has seen rioting in 1995 and 2001 and has a high Asian population.

The tribunal's judgment reads: "The main thrust of it was that Sergeant Singh would be able to bring a unique insight and understanding into this critical role - as a police inspector but also as an ethnic minority."

Giving evidence to the tribunal in August, Chief Supt Doherty referred to the findings of a review team headed by Professor Ted Cantle following the 2001 riots, which reported concerns that the police were not representative enough of the communities they served.

He said Insp Singh was chosen because he speaks Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi and is president of the British Indian Association, giving him unique contacts among the community.

He told the tribunal: "Tensions between Muslim youths and police have been further strained because of terrorism. The week before I recommended Kash, police in London had shot a terrorist suspect and tensions were running high.

"This is a unique posting into a pressure cooker of an area. To have someone who has the credibility and trust of this community is something I really can't put a price on.

"I don't think Mr Richmond had those skills and abilities and while he may have been able to gain them within 12 to 18 months, I don't think the people of Manningham had the time to wait."

Mr Richmond, who lived in the Bradford north area for ten years before moving to Skipton, argued that he also had links with the community, having worked as a supervisor in the division for four years.

The tribunal heard evidence from Mr Richmond that the force ignored protocol under which all sergeants waiting for promotion from the previous year should come before those on the next list, when Insp Singh was given the job.

Keith Watkinson, of West Yorkshire Police's human resources and diversity department admitted that the decision to promote Mr Singh "could have been flawed" but, after reviewing the appointment found that he had "the best attributes for the job", the tribunal heard in a second hearing in September.

The tribunal judgment reads: "Chief Superintendent Doherty was undoubtedly in charge of policing probably the most difficult area in the country in relation to racial tensionhe wished to secure a replacement who could 'hit the ground running'.

"The business case of Chief Superintendent Doherty was ultimately what he perceived would be in the very best interests of the community and the case was put forward with the genuine and best motives.

"The tribunal does not find that the treatment afforded to the claimant was on the proscribed ground as set out in his application and therefore the claim of direct race discrimination fails."

Following the judgment, Mr Richmond's solicitor, David Franey, said: "We are disappointed by the result and are considering an appeal. Until the case has finally concluded it would be wrong to comment any further."

A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said: "The tribunal has found nothing to suggest that Inspector Singh was favourably recruited due to his ethnicity.

"We believe that we have acted fairly on this occasion and will challenge robustly anything that seeks to undermine our work in the arena of diversity and equality."