Scottish ice dancers Sinead and John Kerr have criticised the judges at last week's World Championships in Tokyo who penalised the duo for an element of their routine which was deemed illegal even though they have included it all season without complaint. The pair finished 11th, after posting the eighth-best score on the opening day.

They are furious at the events in Japan. There was no British judge on the panel and they were denied any right of appeal over their punishment, which resulted in them slipping down the rankings during the original dance section.

"When the score came up, we saw that we had received a two-point deduction for a supposedly illegal element," said John yesterday. "If we hadn't been hit with this we would have stayed well in the top 10, and that would have meant us skating in the penultimate group as opposed to the group before.

"We actually performed very well in the original dance and would have gained a personal best had it not been for the judges' decision. The deduction was for Sinead apparently doing a jump of "more than half a revolution", which is regarded as an illegal element in ice dancing.

"However, we have done this particular move at five other competitions this season and it has never been penalised before, so we were both completely perplexed as to why it was treated as being illegal in this instance."

He added: "We tried to appeal the deduction at the end of the championship, but found that there was no possibility of the decision being reversed. Basically, our performance in the free dance was affected by this controversy as we felt we had been dealt a very harsh and questionable punishment.

"I'm convinced that if it hadn't happened, we would have been in the top 10, so it is a blow for us. We don't want to use it as an excuse, but it did not help that we did not have a British judge here for our event. We can't afford to dwell on this, even though it makes our sport look bad, but ultimately this week has been a setback and it is really frustrating."

The Kerrs have shown a marked improvement since joining forces with their new coach, the former Olympic champion Evgeny Platov, but the couple are under pressure to climb up the rankings as they advance towards the 2010 Winter Olympics.

"We are confident we can return stronger next season, and achieve the goals that we and UK Sport have set ourselves," added John. "But there is no doubt Tokyo was disappointing for us."