An Oxford University professor was told he must retire to promote "diversity and intergenerational fairness" before he launched legal action against his former bosses, a tribunal heard.

Prof John Pitcher wanted to carry on working as an English tutor and official fellow, but was told he would have to step down at 67 years of age.

In December 2012 his retirement date was set for Sept 30 2016, but Prof Pitcher was then made a Founder's Fellow on a fixed term from 2014 to 2020.

A specialist in Shakespeare, Elizabethan and Jacobean literature and poetry, he had worked at St John's College for more than 36 years.

Prof Pitcher, now 69, claims he was "forcibly retired" in 2016 after the university and college applied an Employment Justified Retirement Age (EJRA) policy. EJRAs were introduced after the default retirement age was scrapped by the government in 2010.