The man appointed by the embattled Illinois governor to take over Barack Obama’s vacant Senate seat was turned away from Capitol Hill today after being refused permission to take the oath of office.

Roland Burris, a 71-year-old former state attorney-general, arrived at the Capitol shielded by umbrellas from a steady rainfall and a swarm of television cameras, upstaging the historic start of the Obama era in Congress.

But he spent just 20 minutes inside the building, meeting Nancy Erickson, secretary of the Senate, who refused him permission to take the oath of office alongside other new senators elected last November.

"I presented my credentials to the secretary of the Senate, and advised that my credentials were not in order," Mr Burris told a throng of reporters waiting outside the building. "I am not seeking to have any type of confrontation. I will now consult with my attorneys, and we will determine what our next step will be."

Senate Democrats had warned that they would block Mr Burris from the seat because he was appointed by Governor Rod Blagojevich, who is accused in a criminal complaint of trying to benefit financially from his authority to fill the seat that Mr Obama vacated after his presidential victory. Mr Burris himself insists that the appointment is legal.

Mr Burris's lawyer, Timothy Wright, said that he now had several options including further negotiations with top Senate lawmakers or seeking to win a court ruling.

He said that Mr Burris had not been allowed to go onto the floor of the 100-seat Senate or to take the oath of office. "All of which we think was improperly done. And it is against the law of this land. We will consider our options, and we will certainly let you know what our decisions will be soon thereafter," Mr Wright said.

Mr Blagojevich was arrested by federal agents last month and has ignored calls from other Democrats, including President-elect Obama, to step down. Mr Burris has found little support among fellow Democrats.

The Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, said yesterday that Mr Burris would not be permitted to take his seat because he "has not been certified by the state of Illinois," a reference to incomplete paperwork that only touches on the dispute.

While the governor has signed formal appointment papers, Jesse White, the Illinois secretary of state, has not, and Senate rules require that signature.

Mr Burris, in turn, has gone to court hoping to win an order for Mr White to sign the necessary paperwork, and he has also threatened to sue to take his seat in the Senate.

Meanwhile, a panel of Illinois state lawmakers has continued its work to determine whether to impeach Mr Blagojevich. Members of the panel said yesterday that they would move forward despite the possibility that they might not get to hear federal wiretaps of the governor’s conversations with aides and others.

The FBI made extensive recordings of Mr Blagojevich talking privately. Excerpts of the tapes, included in an affidavit attached to the complaint, are full of expletives and aliases. "These tapes are relevant evidence, we’d like to have them," said David Ellis, a lawyer for the impeachment panel.

Besides the allegation that he tried to sell Mr Obama’s vacant Senate seat, Mr Blagojevich is also charged with illegally plotting to use his power as governor to squeeze roadbuilders, a harness racing executive and the head of a children’s hospital among others for hefty campaign contributions.

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