The Daily Mail will pay £45,000 plus VAT in legal fees after an agreement was reached over a libel action brought by Sikh police officer Gurpal Virdi.

The Mail agreed to pay Virdi's lawyers and print an apology for an article published about him in April last year.

Ten years ago, Virdi was falsely accused of racism and dismissed from the police force. He was then reinstated and paid compensation. The Mail's apology stated that “our article 'Sikh police officer who won hate mail pay out sues again' (22 April 2006), reported that an Employment Tribunal had awarded Gurpal Virdi compensation for racial discrimination following accusations he sent hate mail to colleagues ... We also reported that a later independent inquiry by South Wales police concluded Mr. Virdi was behind the race hate campaign ... We emphasise that we did not allege Mr. Virdi was guilty of sending racist hate mail and apologise to Mr. Virdi and his family if a false impression was given.”

Virdi said he is pleased with the outcome of the case.

“It has been a lot of stress on myself and my family. It was never about money, it was about the Daily Mail giving me an apology and looking at the facts as they are,” he told MediaGuardian.