A WORCESTER man who has fought back from a vicious assault which left him with a blood clot on the brain, has secured a place at a top music college after winning a national competition, writes SUNDEEP KUMAR.

Jason Clark's rock song, Carousels and Roundabouts, details the injuries he sustained in the attack and his road to recovery.

Jason, from Dickinson Court, off Wordsworth Avenue, Perdiswell, also suffered a fractured skull in the April 1998 attack, in the Pig and Drum pub, in Lowesmoor.

He managed to stagger home, after the assault, but the following morning, his mother Lynne, found him in his bed, unconscious and in a pool of blood.

His injuries were so serious that he had to learn how to play the guitar all over again. To this day he still suffers from lack of retentive memory, sleeplessness and ringing in his ears.

"It is an ongoing rehabilitation process," said Jason, the son of former city Mayor, David Clark.

"I now have to use certain routines to keep my memory from failing."

He is delighted to have fought off more than 200 other finalists in the contest, advertised in Q magazine's July issue. However, he has his sights set on being a songwriter rather than a rock star.

"It has happened so fast that I have not had time to think about the future.

"But I'm 33-years-old now and my main aim is that my songs are accepted by publishing companies. They can then pass them on to other bands to record and I will get the songwriting credits.

Jason began the full-time course, Professional Development Certificate in Commercial Modern Music (songwriting) at the Brighton Institute for Modern Music this week.