A racist doctor who sent offensive messages to his staff has been cleared of dishonestly taking £100,000 from the out-of-hours GP service he ran.

Indian born Dr Ravindra Sondhi said all foreign doctors should be sent back home and told an African colleague his family was a bongo bongo family.

But the doctor, known as Dr Ravi Sondhi, has been cleared by the Medical Practitioners Tribunal of charges in relation to his management of Croydon Doctors on Call (CROYDOC).

Through Croydoc, he was responsible for providing out-of-hours service for patients in Croydon, Kingston, Merton and Sutton using a panel of local GPs.

He was accused of making £100,000 of unauthorised withdrawals from the accounts of the NHS-funded company between July 2008 and August 2009.

But he has been cleared of dishonesty after the tribunal panel found he had got authorisation for the ‘advances’.

Dr Sondhi, who practised at Portland Medical Centre, Portland Road, South Norwood, intends to pay back the money by the end of the year.

He was also accused of failing to provide adequate care to patients.

But the panel found he had made provisions for adequate cover when working from his home in Fakenham, Norfolk, which is 125 miles away from Croydon.

Although the panel did decide he was sometimes difficult to contact.

At the hearing Dr Sondhi said he regretted sending the racist messages.

The hearing has been adjourned until later in the year.