A North East ambulance driver has been awarded GBP5,865 in compensation for whiplash injuries sustained when his vehicle hit a tree.
Joel Byers suffered the whiplash when the brakes and steering failed on the Chevrolet ambulance he was driving.
The 48-year-old of Byker, Newcastle, said the ambulance suffered a total loss of power and that he hit the tree in a bid to stop the vehicle.
Despite claims by his employers - the North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) - that the vehicle was not faulty, a judge at Newcastle County Court awarded Mr Byers the compensation for his whiplash injury.
The incident happened in October 1998 on a roundabout at Grandstand Road, Newcastle, as Mr Byers drove to an emergency call in the High Heaton area of the city.
Following the judgement on his compensation claim for the whiplash injury, the ambulance driver said he was pleased to be vindicated but disappointed his bosses had not accepted what he had said about the system failure.
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