The fight by Barclays to overturn a court decision that found the UK banking giant may be liable for more than 100 claims of sexual assault will go ahead this summer after a judge ruled it could contest the decision.

A group of 126 people, mostly women, are seeking damages for assaults they say were committed by Gordon Bates, a medical doctor, between 1968 and 1984. Bates had been paid by Barclays to perform medical checks on prospective and existing staff, according to court documents.