British track and field officials said they...

British track and field officials said they would set up an independent inquiry into charges of a major dope-testing cover-up.

The announcement followed the second part of a series by the Times of London focusing on allegations of drug-testing corruption in British track and field.

In Wednesday’s editions, the newspaper said that one of the country’s top track officials subverted drug testing at a major event by switching urine samples to protect a competitor.

The official, Andy Norman, described the allegations as “ridiculous” and a “load of rubbish.”

A joint statement by the British Amateur Athletics Board and the Amateur Athletics Assn. denied a series of allegations in the two articles and said a team would be named in 1988 to look into the claims, the most serious and damaging to hit British athletics in recent years.

The newspaper also revealed that three doctors had admitted to either monitoring drug effects or prescribing muscle-building anabolic steroids, banned by international bodies. The doctors were not identified.