Julian Assange is fighting to have a UK warrant for his arrest withdrawn because being holed up in London's Ecuadorian embassy for five years has left him 'depressed'.

The WikiLeaks founder's legal team is arguing that the warrant, issued in 2012 after he allegedly breached bail conditions by seeking asylum in Ecuador's London embassy, has 'lost its purpose'.

Mr Assange complained about having a 'terribly bad tooth, frozen shoulder and depression' in his legal challenge.

It means he could be free as early as next month, with a decision on the outcome due to be made on February 6.

Julian Assange could walk free from London's Ecuadiorian Embassy after his case was adjourned today. A court hearing was told he has suffered from a frozen shoulder, depression and a 'terribly bad tooth'

Today a cat, sporting a blue tie with an hourglass on it, appeared at one of the windows of the embassy

Mr Assange had been facing extradition to Sweden over sex assault claims but the case has since been dropped. His lawyers say the arrest warrant should now no longer apply.

Mr Assange believes he faces extradition to the United States for questioning over the activities of WikiLeaks if he leaves the embassy.

His lawyers made an application at Westminster Magistrates’ Court for the UK warrant to be withdrawn.

Mark Summers QC said that the warrant had 'lost its purpose and its function'.

Mr Assange has been holed up since 2012 after skipping bail to avoid extradition to Sweden

Defence papers stated: 'He has spent five-and-a-half years in conditions which, on any view, are akin to imprisonment, without access to adequate medical care or sunlight, in circumstances where his physical and psychological health have deteriorated and are in serious peril.'

Senior district judge Emma Arbuthnot said evidence handed to the court concerning Mr Assange’s medical problems included 'a terrible bad tooth, frozen shoulder and depression'.

Prosecutor Aaron Watkins said the UK arrest warrant is still valid because Mr Assange has failed to surrender to custody.

'Mr Assange had been released on bail in proceedings; he was under a duty to surrender to the custody of the court and he failed to surrender at the appointed time for him to do so,' he added.

'Therefore a warrant stands.'

He continued: 'The position that Mr Assange contends is absurd - were a defendant effectively to be rewarded with effective immunity by having managed to avoid proceedings sufficiently well that they fell away, for whatever reason.

'The proper approach is that when a discrete, standalone offence of failing to surrender occurs, it always remains open to this court to secure the arrest.'

The 46-year-old recently became a citizen of Ecuador, but the British government said the move did not change his legal status.

Bringing the case against Assange and the long-running monitoring of the embassy building ever since has reportedly cost the British taxpayer around £13million.

Assange has only been seen on the balcony of the embassy as he fears arrest if he leaves

It appears Ecuador's patience with the controversial figure is wearing thin, and the South American country's president Lenín Moreno described him as an 'inherited problem' in a recent television interview.

Last year, Assange angered Mr Moreno by tweeting support for Catalan separatists as an independence referendum caused an uprising in Spain.

Assange's doctors have said that his health is at risk due to his six-year confinement in the embassy.

Medics Sondra S Crosby, Brock Chisholm and Sean Love wrote on The Guardian's website that his confinement has had an impact on his physical and mental health.

They said: 'Our assessment reveals that he has had no access to sunlight, appropriate ventilation or outside space for over five and a half years.'

In May last year, Sweden's top prosecutor said an investigation into allegations that Assange raped a woman during a visit in 2010 had been 'discontinued'.

Assange has received a number of high-profile visitors, including Pamela Anderson

Marianne Ny told a press conference that it was effectively a lost cause because there was no way of getting Assange to properly answer questions.

She said since there was no prospect of bringing Assange to Sweden it was 'no longer proportionate' to maintain a European arrest warrant.

Assange has said he fears he could be extradited to the United States and tried over the leaking of hundreds of thousands of secret US military and diplomatic documents.

Judgment will be given at 2pm on February 6.