A first measurement of the average polarisation P-tau of tau leptons produced in e(+)e(-) annihilation at energies significantly above the Z resonance is presented. The polarisation is determined from the kinematic spectra of tau hadronic decays. The measured value P-tau = -0.164 +/- 0.125 is consistent with the Standard Model prediction for the mean LEP energy of 197 GeV. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
