A MAN who fell 40 feet from Central Pier in Blackpool will receive £100,000 in an out-of-court settlement.

The money will be paid to Warren Hindley by insurers acting for former pier owner First Leisure Corporation and its security company Northern Securities without any admission of liability.

A High Court judge had previously found there was no liability on behalf of either company and Mr Hindley's case was just minutes away from the Court of Appeal when the settlement was made.

The 27-year-old from Hollywood Road, Blackpool, had been ejected by bouncers from the side entrance of Oz nightclub in February 1994.

Finding himself locked in and unable to get off the pier, he tried to climb down and fell, resulting in multiple injuries, including a fractured skull. He was also hypothermic when eventually found on the beach.

Mr Hindley's lawyer Warren Spencer commented "Warren and his family are delighted that the defendant companies chose to make a payment without any admission of liability.

"It has been a long and complicated legal battle which we were prepared to take all the way.

"Had this gone to appeal we would have maintained it was company policy for the bouncers to eject people who were drunk or misbehaving through the front doors and on to the street not through a side door on to the pier itself."

Mr Hindley is currently in hospital after being made the subject of a mental health order and the money was essential to provide for his future, said Mr Spencer.

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