A retired intelligence expert has won undisclosed libel damages over claims that he leaked information in the run-up to the Iraq war.

The Daily Telegraph made the claims in March about Dr Brian Jones, head of the defence intelligence staff at the Ministry of Defence, and an expert on weapons of mass destruction until he retired in 2003.

Speaking at the High Court, Dr Jones' solicitor said the paper had accepted that their allegation was untrue, had published an apology and agreed to pay damages and Dr Jones' legal costs.

Just a month after the story appeared in the newspaper, Dr Jones' probity was publicly praised by the chairman of the public administration select committee as part of his investigation into Whitehall leaks and whistleblowers.

He was questioned by the committee about a memo in which he had raised concerns about the intelligence within the crucial dossier that was central to the US and UK argument for the invasion of Iraq.

After hearing his evidence, committee chairman Dr Tony Wright said: "I do not think you are the sort of person who would ever have thought about breaching confidences, leaking, going outside the system."