A man has just months to live after a doctor wrongly diagnosed cancer as piles, it is claimed.

Peter Lane would have survived for up to five years had his GP, a registrar working from a practice in Buxted, noticed he had bowel cancer and began treatment sooner.

The 55-year-old has now accused Dr Alexander Hoskin of failing to refer him to a specialist for treatment and further investigations.

And he is suing the GP for compensation of up to £250,000, according to a High Court writ.

But because the fatal condition was not diagnosed until 17 months after Mr Lane's first appointment, he may not live long enough to see the outcome of the case.

Mr Lane had been suffering from rectal bleeding for two months when he first visited the Buxted Surgery near Crowborough in June 2005.

He has claimed Dr Hoskin, who was a registrar at the time and has since left the practice, diagnosed piles without any clinical evidence.

He says Dr Hoskin then failed to ask about the bleeding at an unrelated appointment in September 2005.

Mr Lane, of Oldlands Hill in Fairwarp, near Crowborough, returned to the surgery in November 2006 as the bleeding had worsened. He was referred for investigation in hospital.

By then, the bleeding had been going on for 17 months, the writ says.

Mr Lane underwent surgery on December 20, 2006, which revealed a rectal tumour.

A scan at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London showed it had grown to 5cm in radius - the size of a small apple.

Tests also showed the cancer had spread to his liver.

Mr Lane was treated with chemotherapy and surgery but while he was in hospital being treated he developed the superbug MRSA.

In all he had eight cycles of chemotherapy, finishing on January 25 this year.

If he had been referred to hospital for more treatment in 2005, Mr Lane says he would have avoided the extensive medical treatment he has undergone.

He believes he would not now be facing an imminent, untimely death within a few months. With correct treatment, his cancer would have been diagnosed and treated with surgery and radiotherapy.

The writ issued by Harman and Harman says Dr Hoskin negligently failed to give an appropriate diagnosis, wrongly diagnosed piles without any other evidence, failed to inquiry into his condition in September 2005, and failed to examine him at that time.