A 100-YEAR-OLD man who suffered life-changing injuries when he tripped over a discarded wire has won a five-figure payout from the city council.

Brighton and Hove City Council said it was "extremely sorry" for the distress caused to Derek Granger, who fell over a trailing wire in Woodvale crematorium on June 25, 2016.

He dislocated his shoulder and badly tore his shoulder muscles.

Now the authority has now been forced to pay almost £20,000 to the former drama critic and TV producer, best known for the Bafta-award winning TV series Brideshead Revisited.

A judge at Brighton County Court found the council's evidence was “unhelpful” and “unsatisfactory” as they tried to claim Mr Granger, then 95, collapsed due to old age.

Mr Justice Sullivan said he could not understand why the local authority fought the case in court for six years while praising Mr Granger as a “stoical gentleman".

A Brighton and Hove City Council spokesman said: “This was a county court personal injury claim made by an individual who was claiming damages following a tripping incident.

“The council’s insurers took the decision to defend this civil personal injury claim based on the witness evidence available about the incident.

“The judge found in favour of the claimant.

“We are extremely sorry for the distress caused to Mr Granger and for the length of time this matter has taken to conclude. This was due to court delays beyond the council’s control.

“We will be reviewing our current cases with our insurers to learn from this case and improve things going forward.

“All health and safety risk assessments were reviewed following the incident, and continue to be regularly reviewed, to ensure there is safe access to our chapels.

“This includes assessing all areas of the chapels, including entrance and exits, and all seating areas inside our chapels to ensure health and safety risks are as fully mitigated as possible.

“The claimant was awarded £19,759.06, including interest. The legal costs have not yet been assessed by the court."

Mr Granger was educated at Eastbourne College and later saw four years of war service in the Royal Navy.

After being demobbed, he came to Brighton to work as a journalist on the Evening Argus and Sussex Daily News.

The Argus: Derek Granger Derek Granger

In 1952, he was head-hunted by the Financial Times with an offer to become the paper’s first drama critic, an appointment which saw the foundations of what was to become the famous FT Arts Page.

He went on to work for Granada TV, producing Coronation Street in its early days and later becoming the channel's head of drama. 

Following the accident, he was put on a stretcher and taken to A&E at the Royal Sussex County Hospital.

James Palmer QC of Henderson Chambers said: "Brighton and Hove City Council denied that there was any cable present and in their pleaded case (although abandoned at trial) claimed it was Mr Granger’s own fault that he fell and was badly injured.

"Mr Granger’s case was upheld by the judge who accepted the evidence of his witnesses and said that it appeared to him that witnesses for the defence ‘were somewhat affronted’ by the suggestion that they might have been involved leaving the cable in a dangerous position: although they were adamant that there was no cable present he could not accept their evidence on this and other points."