What better-suited personage for the launch of the Lawyers Wine Challenge - London 2004 than the great lord of the jungle himself, Charlie Brockett.

Indeed, the flamboyant peer and 'I'm a celebrity...

get me out of here' contestant has a considerable connection with the law, famously having had a run-in several years ago with Inspector Plod - and subsequently having to downgrade his level of cuisine from foie gras to porridge - following the disappearance of several classic motor cars.

His lawyer during that altercation was the no less flamboyant Steve Barker of London law firm Barker Gillette.

Mr Barker - whose list of hard-hitting clients includes the notorious Ronnie Biggs - has launched the wine challenge, which is a competition that will see up to 50 teams of lawyers trying to out-taste and out-spit each other at London's Vinopolis.

At the launch, Lord Brockett proudly informed guests that in the past he enjoyed paying his legal bills with a few cases of vintage bottles, because he could then nip round to the lawyer's home and quaff back the fees himself.

For details on the challenge, telephone: 020 7940 8338.