TWO police officers and four staff have been reprimanded after failing to spot a grandfather was seriously injured when he was taken into custody.

Police thought Michael Wyld, 46, of Nelson, was drunk, but he had a serious head injury after failing off a bar stool.

And it took custody staff at Burnley police station eight hours to realise Mr Wyld needed medical attention.

Mr Wyld has been left with a serious lifelong impairment and is still in a rehabilitation centre receiving treatment.

It is not known if the delay in getting him treatment contributed to the seriousness of his impairment.

Mike Franklin, the North West commissioner for The Independent Police Complaints Commission which has investigated the incident, said he was disappointed in the police who had "let down" Mr Wyld.

Lancashire Constabulary said that it was satisifed that lessons had been learned following the incident.

But Mr Wyld's sister Deborah, of Nelson, said the officers involved should have faced tougher action than reprimands. And she hit out at the IPCC for not naming the officers involved.

She said: "As a family we are not happy about the decision.

"His condition should have been checked long before it was.

"We will never really know whether that delay would have changed his condition.

"We just hope this case brings about changes so other families do not find themselves in this position.

"He is permanently damaged.

"Before he was very fun and always very manual and hands on with things, especially DIT. He'll never be able to do that again or work again."

As a result of the IPCC investigation, which was conducted by Lancashire Police's professional standards department, an inspector will now receive a written warning for failing to insure that a risk assessment had been carried out.

A sergeant and four civilian officers will receive verbal advice.

The IPCC said they had failed to ensure a full risk assessment of Mr Wyld's condition was carried out.

However the report said that it was unclear whether such an assessment would have identified Mr Wyld's injury Mike Franklin, IPCC commissioner for the north west, said police had an increasingly difficult job to do dealing with people who had been arrested.

He called for a debate on what other forms of custody or treatment should be available to take the strain of officers who were not trained doctors.

Mr Franklin said: "It is disappointing that Mr Wyld has been let down on two occasions.

"Once in the way he was dealt with by Lancashire Constabulary when he was arrested and secondly by the misleading evidence given to the first investigation into those events.

"Police officers and civilian staff failed in their duty of care towards Mr Wyld.

"Mr Wyld has been left with a serious lifelong impairment and my thoughts are with him and his family.

"I hope lessons are learned for the future from this investigation."

Mr Wyld, was discovered collapsed at the rear of the Goodnight Club, Stanley Street, Nelson, in the early hours of March 13, 2005, following a night out.

He was arrested and arrived at Burnley police station at around 2am.

At about 10am officers became concerned that Mr Wyld, who was seperated from his wife and has three grown up children in their 20s and four grandchildren, was unresponsive and he was taken to Burnley General Hospital with head injuries.

He was in intensive care for two weeks.

The report concluded that a custody sergeant did not carry out a full risk assessment of My Wyld's condition in accordance with the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, meaning there was no possibility of his head injury being spotted.

This was compounded by civilian custody detention officers, responsible for checking on Mr Wyld, failing to identify signs of a deterioration in his condition, it added.

The report said a review of the investigation found that an inspector gave unreliable evidence prompting a second probe.

This second investigation found the inspector had some responsibility for the detention of My Wyld.

A police spokesman said: "We welcome the conclusion of this investigation and are satisfied that lessons have been learned as a result."

Pendle MP, Gordon Prentice said: "This underlines the importance of the police following the rules and procedures in cases where people are taken into custody having sustained an injury.

"It is clearly a tragedy for the person involved."

Burnley MP, Kitty Ussher added: "The crucial thing is that lessons are learned from this."