A FATHER left paralysed after "routine" spinal surgery has won a three-year battle for compensation.

Phil Scudder, 50, was an avid motorbike rider before he had a decompression operation to remove a slipped disc in his back in 2011.

Mr Scudder, from Crowborough, believed the procedure at the Hurstwood Park Neurological Centre in Haywards Heath, part of Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust, was relatively routine.

Yet when he woke from the surgery and was asked to move his legs, he found he was paralysed.

Mr Scudder is now wheelchair dependent, despite regaining ten per cent of the feeling in one leg.

The trust accepted liability during a hearing at the High Court last month.

Mr Scudder’s legal team raised concerns over the type of operation Mr Scudder had, citing experts who believed it was not the correct procedure.

The trust says there are competing expert views as to the right surgical approach and accepting liability was not on the basis its procedure was wrong.

It said it was common for there to be more than one school of thought on surgical approaches.

Mr Scudder, a former self-employed plasterer, said he was "relieved" the case was now settled.

He said: "Apart from a slipped disc, I was a fit 44-year-old man with a job and hobby I loved when this happened.

"What should have been a routine operation turned into a nightmare which has ended my work, my hobby and led to the breakdown of a long-term relationship.

"I'm relieved that I persevered in getting to the truth with the help of my lawyers and that the case is now settled so that I can get on with my life."

A trust spokeswoman said: “The trust apologises to both Mr Scudder and his family for the failures in care relating to his surgery on July 8 2011, and the impact this has had on his life.

"We very much hope that the lawyers can now work together to achieve an early resolution of the claim and settlement for damages."

The High Court will consider in 2018 how much compensation Mr Scudder should receive.

Mr Scudder’s legal representatives, Thomson Snell & Passmore in Kent, said compensation was likely to run into millions.