A bricklayer "rendered childlike" after doctors at Worthing Hospital failed to spot signs of severe bleeding in his brain has been awarded £1.9 million.

John Humberstone, from Shoreham, needs 24-hour care and will never work again after suffering a substantial brain haemorrhage in 1996.

Worthing and Southlands Hospitals NHS Trust admitted negligence at the High Court in London.

Mr Humberstone, 50, from The Finches, suffered severe headaches and shaking on April 24, 1996, which were diagnosed later that day as the first symptoms of epilepsy.

Over the succeeding weeks Mr Humberstone was seen by doctors at Worthing Hospital after complaining of nausea and headaches.

On May 18 he was admitted to the hospital with headaches, neck soreness and amnesia.

Doctors also noted that the previous day he had suffered a seizure while in the garden at home.

Mr Humberstone had formerly been a highly-industrious bricklayer who "worked seven days a week".

His counsel, Dr Michael Powers QC, said his client had been "rendered very much as a child in his behaviour and intellect" as a result of the haemorrhage.

The court was told Mr Humberstone's wife Maggie, who sued the trust on his behalf, had experienced an enormous amount of difficulties in the past five years looking after her husband.

Lawyers alleged negligence by doctors in failing to detect signs of the haemorrhage before May 17.

Dr Powers said the trust had admitted liability in the case.

The trust's counsel, Terence Coghlan QC, expressed his client's regret for what happened and their "sadness that this tragedy ever occurred".

He also expressed his "admiration for the way in which this wife and family had coped with that great tragedy".

Mr and Mrs Humberstone have two teenage children and his father, William Humberstone, lives nearby.

He said: "The money will help but I would rather have my son's health back. He was a brilliant, hard-working man who loved his work and family. This has been devastating for all of us."

After the case a trust spokesman said: "We deeply regret that our failure to diagnose Mr Humberstone's condition resulted in such a tragic outcome for him and his family.

"In the five years since this incident the hospital has reviewed its procedures to ensure that a similar situation is not repeated.

"The doctors involved no longer work at the hospitals."