A solicitor who was acquitted last week of involvement in a multi-million pound plot to supply illegal workers to farms and factories said that the proceedings against him threatened the integrity of the legal profession.

Tim Cary, a partner at Leathes Prior in Norwich, was acquitted of conspiracy to facilitate the illegal entry of workers to the UK, at Canterbury Crown Court.

His clients, Victor and Jayson Cox, were convicted of conspiracy charges relating to the employment of up to 1,700 illegal workers.

The court heard that the two had used 'crude and obvious' forgeries to convince firms that the workers had the correct entitlement to work in the UK.

Mr Cary said: 'The implications of this were potentially terrifying - it is nothing less than a direct assault on the integrity of the legal profession.

Solicitors are entitled to rely on what our clients tell us - but I was penalised for so doing.'

A statement from Leathes Prior said: 'This appears to have been the prosecution of a solicitor, against whom there was no evidence of wrongdoing, simply because he acted properly for his clients.'

It continued: 'We will now be working hard with the Crown Prosecution Service, the Bar Council and other relevant authorities to establish what went wrong in this case, and who was to blame for what was an assault - at vast public expense - on everyone's fundamental right to representation.'

Rachel Rothwell