A motorcyclist who was seriously injured in a head-on collision with a fire engine answering an emergency call has won a vital round in his fight for £250,000 compensation.

Leslie Carr, 45, of Stirling Place, Hove, was in intensive care for days after the collision at the traffic light-controlled junction of Fonthill Road and Old Shoreham Road, Brighton.

He suffered ten broken bones, plus nerve damage, and three years after the collision on Friday, August 13, 2004, has only recently been able to return part-time to his work as a legal adviser.

Mr Carr is suing East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service claiming the fire engine driver was negligent.

His case was dealt a blow in May last year, when Judge Keith Hollis ruled at Brighton County Court that the driver was blameless and Mr Carr had accelerated through a red light at the junction at around midnight.

Mr Carr took his case to the Court of Appeal overturned Judge Hollis's decision.

Lady Justice Smith said it appeared Judge Hollis had been "unwilling to grapple" with an important issue in the case concerning the sequence of the traffic lights display.

She said the judge had reached conclusions about how the accident occurred that were "mutually inconsistent with each other".

The fire service was ordered to pay approximately £17,000 in costs for the appeal.

Mr Carr said outside the court: "I'm very happy with the result. They've made the right decision really."

Lady Justice Smith, sitting with Lord Justice Dyson and Lord Justice Wilson, ordered a complete rehearing of Mr Carr's case before a different county court judge.

No date was set for Mr Carr's claim.