A GP struck off for having one of the scruffiest and most disorganised surgeries in Britain showed himself to be "quite unfit" to practice as a doctor, Law Lords said today.

Disgraced Dr Peter Sandon, 60, of Uplands Avenue, Worthing, was erased from the medical register in May last year by the GMC's professional conduct committee.

It had heard about the "filthy and unhygienic" state of his surgery at Goring Road, Goring.

A practice manager brought in by the local health authority in March 2000 to provide support for the GP found medical instruments were not cleaned or stored, fire exits were blocked with rubbish and there were no fire extinguishers.

Drugs were left lying around, post was unopened, filing not done and there was poor record keeping.

Mr Philip Gray, for Dr Sandon, who was appealing to the Privy Council to allow him to practice, urged the Law Lords to overturn the striking off order and replace it with conditions which would let him carry out medicals on potential DSS claimants.

A well as expressing Dr Sandon's apologies, Mr Gray said his client had been suffering from depressive illness and that he had "buried his head in the sand" but was now an entirely different person.

Mr Gray said the GMC's professional conduct committee did not pay sufficient regard to his explanation, nor to the limited basis on which he wanted to practice.

He said: "He should have asked for help at a much earlier stage - he wasn't capable of turning the practice around.

"When it deteriorated he wasn't able to put the brakes on."

Giving reasons for the Law Lords dismissal of the appeal, Sir Andrew Leggatt said: "Their Lordships forbear to repeat the diverse ways in which over a period of two years the appellant showed himself quite unfit to practice as a doctor, except to recall they included dishonesty and inappropriate treatment of opiate drug users and the prescription of drugs to patients not registered with his practice."