A FORMER soldier from Redditch has been given £30,000 compensation from the Ministry of Defence after hurting his back in a poorly supervised athletics training session.

The man, who was in the Royal Signals Regiment, severely injured his back after taking part in the triple jump without a proper warm-up.

He was left in agony after the accident, which took place while he was on army duty in March 1996.

A keen sportsman and qualified PE instructor, the father-of-two - who does not want to be named - was involved in an athletics training session run by a qualified instructor.

He and his colleagues were ordered to do a rapid succession of sprints after only a one-minute warm up.

"Following that session, we were taken over to do the triple jump. My legs were like jelly and when I hit the sane, they just gave way and I felt an excruciating pain in my back," he said.

X-rays found he had chipped one vertebrae and displaced others.

The man said: "I couldn't do my job and was being accused of malingering, but even then with all the medical evidence they refused to give me a medical discharge.

"I had been in five-and-a-half years and the army was my life," he said.

He finally gave one year's notice, returned to Redditch in September 1997 but has not worked since March 1998 because of his injury.

He added: "Taking on the Ministry of Defence was a tall order but when my solicitor looked at my medical records, he advised me there was a good chance of success."

Redditch and Alcester solicitors Browning & Co said eventually the ministry admitted liability and an award was made in two parts.