A scout leader who fractured his spine on a cross-country assault course has won £167,500 damages.

Robert Wilson, 49, of Bordon, Hampshire, fell on his bottom after sliding down a firefighter's pole on an obstacle during a week's camp at the Clyne Farm Centre, near Swansea, in 2009.

He suffered great pain from the injury to his first lumbar vertebra which needed surgery and left him in a spinal brace for six months. The discomfort affected his work as a taxi driver.

Yesterday, Mrs Justice Swift, who said there had been a lack of instruction, allowed his claim against Geoff Haden, trading as Clyne Farm Centre.

Mr Haden's lawyers had told the High Court in London Mr Wilson was the author of his own misfortune.