AN East Lancashire lorry driver who slipped while delivering beer to a pub in Scotland is suing the landlord for £50,000 after the accident left him with sore buttocks.

HGV driver Stuart Nightingale claims he lost his footing in an icy car park outside the Woodside Inn, near Perth, and landed heavily on his backside.

Mr Nightingale, of Belgrave Road, Colne, has lodged a writ at Perth Sheriff Court, seeking damages from pub landlord Roy Jacobs.

He claims he was forced to give up his job a few months after the accident and has suffered a loss of earnings.

Mr Nightingale claims that Mr Jacobs was responsible for the accident because he failed to grit the area around the pub where deliveries were made.

He said: "He was under a duty to take reasonable care to ensure the delivery area outside the public house was safe for use by delivery drivers.

"It presented a danger because it had not been gritted. Mr Jacobs was in breach of his duty of care and caused the accident.

"But for his failure to fulfil the duties incumbent upon him the accident would not have occurred. I sustained loss, injury and damage."

The accident happened on December 15, 1999, while Mr Nightingale was working for Flying Firkin.

He parked and stepped out of the cab, but the ground was icy and almost immediately he fell to the ground after losing his footing.

"When I fell I landed on the base of my spine," his claim states. "It took me approximately 20 minutes to pull myself up the side of my lorry.

"I continued to feel pain in my back throughout December 1999. From January 2000 I suffered increased pain.

"I now walk with a significant limp. I still suffer from pain in my lower back and buttocks. I experience pins and needles in my right calf." Mr Nightingale attended Burnley General Hospital in July 2000 and was found to have two prolapsed discs.

He was absent from work from January that year and had his job terminated shortly after the hospital visit, he claims.

But Mr Jacobs is defending the action - and claims that Mr Nightingale was to blame for the fall because he was not watching where he was going.

"It was caused, or at least materially contributed to, by his own fault and negligence.

"He was under a duty to take reasonable care for his own safety.

"He was under a duty to watch where he was placing his feet and to keep a good lookout," Jacobs said.

"But for his failure, the accident would not have occurred."

He claims Mr Nightingale had a long-standing pre-existing problem with his back and his current pain was unconnected to the accident.

Mr Jacobs said the driver did not even see a GP until two months after he fell, and as recently as August last year, was able to carry shopping bags and get into a tall vehicle.

Evidence in the action is expected to be heard at the court later this year.