KEN Livingstone could be barred from the Mayor's office for five years if a panel decides his "Nazi" joke had brought the office into disrepute.

The Adjudication Panel for England, a local government watchdog, will decide whether a comment made to a Jewish journalist breached the Greater London Authority Code of Conduct.

Mr Livingstone likened the Evening Standard reporter Oliver Finegold to a "concentration camp guard" after accusing him of doorstepping him at a party in February last year.

The mayor was caught on tape asking the reporter if he was a "German war criminal".

The reporter replied: "No, I'm Jewish, I wasn't a German war criminal. I'm quite offended by that."

To which the mayor said: "Ah right, well you might be, but actually you are just like a concentration camp guard, you are just doing it because you are paid to, aren't you?"

Mr Livingstone's solicitor Tony Child said today there was "no evidence" that he brought his office into disrepute.

He said Mr Livingstone had not intended to offend the Jewish community and was exercising his freedom of speech.

He argued that the mayor may have damaged his own reputation, but not that of his office.

Scandals involving politicians, including John Profumo, Jeffrey Archer and David Blunkett were given as examples of incidents which brought shame on the individuals, but not their office.

The panel's ethical standards officer Tim Morshead told the hearing that Mr Livingstone had shown "unusual insensitivity".

If found guilty, the mayor could face censure, be made to apologise, undergo training or be barred from office.

Despite widespread calls urging him to say sorry, a defiant Mr Livingstone has refused to apologise for his remarks.

The mayor claimed that the newspaper had carried out a long campaign against him.

Last year in the Commons, six Labour MPs tabled a motion calling for an apology to the reporter and London's community of 250,000 Jews.

"No matter how long or deep his dispute with Associated Newspapers is, that dispute cannot justify or excuse his language," the motion read.