The CrossCountry Trains service between Bournemouth and Manchester came to a halt after hitting the cows just north of Oxford, near the village of Tackley. It is reported the train hit around 12 animals.

Services were suspended between Oxford and Banbury leaving passengers stranded for around four hours. The train was not derailed and passengers had to wait to be rescued.

Passenger praised staff, saying: “Poor driver, poor farmer and poor poor cows. The train staff have been great. But we’re still very much stranded.”

A spokesman from Crosscountry said: “It was involved in an incident with farm animals that had strayed onto the line.

“The train is currently at a stand at the site awaiting an inspection.”

Before this latest announcement, several organizations had raised their concerns that the reforms to personal injury claim appeared to be retrospective, in that claimants who started their claims before April 2013 might find themselves having to foot the bill for legal representation out of the money they receive as damages.  The MoJ have now clarified this by saying that any compensation claims brought by injured people before 31^st March 2013 will continue to be funded under no win no fee arrangements.  This means that for the next year at least, accident victims will not have to pay their legal costs out of the injury compensation they receive at the end of their claim.

Until the reforms come into effect next year, all accident victims will continue to be able to make no win no fee claims for compensation against those responsible.  Under the current system, known formally as a conditional fee agreement, a solicitor will take out a special insurance policy to cover his or her client’s legal fees if their case is unsuccessful.  This means that there is no risk that an injured person might have to pay out substantial sums of money to cover their legal costs if for any reason their claim is not successful.

The changes to the way compensation claims are funded will also affect successful claims.  Under the current system, solicitors can claim their costs back from the defendant separately to the compensation they claim for their client, but under the new system this will change so that up to 25% of a client’s damages might have to cover their solicitor’s legal fees.

For expert legal advice if you have suffered a personal injury, speak to the solicitors at Camps.

Concerns about the potential long-term health effects of metallic replacement joints prompted the MHRA to issue the advice to doctors.  Around 49,000 of the 70,000 hip replacements fitted in the UK each year contain metal-on-metal joints.  In recent years concern has been growing that normal wear and tear on these joints can cause small amounts of metal to wear away and potentially enter a person’s bloodstream, causing serious health issues including tissue damage.

Now healthcare professionals at the MHRA have issued guidance recommending that people fitted with these types of joints undergo annual blood tests designed to detect the presence of abnormal levels of metallic particles in their bloodstream.  Currently, hip replacement patients are monitored for 5 years after their replacement joint is fitted, but now they may be monitored for the life of their replacement joints.

Metal-on-metal hip joints have a higher failure rate compared with joints where the moving parts are manufactured from plastics or ceramics.  According to the MHRA, after 7 years, around 12% of metal replacement joints had failed – three times the rate of failure amongst plastic and ceramic joints.  The BBC news website reports that patients fitted with metallic hip replacements will be contacted in due course by their hospital, whilst the MHRA are advising anyone currently suffering problems with their hip joints to contact their GP.

Metal hip replacement legal advice

A hip replacement should allow you greater freedom to lead an independent life and to enjoy a better quality of life.  If, however, your hip replacement is causing more problems than it solves, it may be time to seek some independent legal advice.  Here at Camps Solicitors, our faulty products compensation solicitors would like to hear from you, if you’re suffering the ill-effects of a fault in your metallic replacement hip joint.  For more information, contact our claims advice team today on 0800 092 8586.

A ruling in the High Court last week over a mesothelioma compensation claim could have a widespread impact for other people affected by the fatal asbestos-related cancer.  In the judgement, a 92-year old man who had been diagnosed with mesothelioma was awarded £50,000 compensation for his pain and suffering, much higher than the £35,000 recommended in the most recent edition of the Judicial Studies Board guidelines.

The claimant in this case had spent his career working for the National Coal Board and the British Coal Corporation.  During his work, he had been exposed to asbestos fibres on numerous occasions.  After retiring he was diagnosed with mesothelioma, a fatal cancer caused by exposure to asbestos fibres.  At the time of his claim, he had only a few months to live.  The level of compensation to be paid for his pain and suffering was disputed by the defendant in the case, the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change and so the case progressed to the High Court for a decision on the size of the damages.

At the hearing, before Mrs Justice Swift, the defense team had argued that as the claimant was himself very elderly at the time of his claim and his life expectancy was only a matter of months, his compensation should be reduced to reflect this.  The solicitors representing the claimant argued that this was not the case and that their client was entitled to a level of compensation that was not prejudiced by his age or his life expectancy.  Mrs Justice Swift agreed with the claimant’s legal team.  In her written judgement, which was reported on the Law Gazette website, she said:

“A person of any age who is informed that his or her life will be cut short by the effect of a harmful substance to which he or she has been wrongfully exposed is likely to suffer a good deal of distress.  Even if a deceased’s death has in the event been relatively peaceful, he or she will have been fearful since being told of the diagnosis of mesothelioma that a painful and distressing end lies in store.  I consider that the appropriate award of damages lies below the lower level of the bracket of awards identified in previous editions of the JSB guidelines, but significantly above the lower level which appears in the latest edition.”

This ruling means that in future asbestos-related industrial disease compensation claims, the compensation awarded should reflect the pain and suffering endure by those affected by mesothelioma.  It is likely to pave the way for elderly mesothelioma sufferers and those diagnosed with similar asbestos-related terminal conditions to claim compensation that reflects the impact that their condition has had on their life, regardless of their age or their life expectancy.

Mesothelioma compensation claims

Camps Solicitors have been building up an impressive reputation, based on getting the maximum possible compensation for their clients.  Over three decades our industrial disease and personal injury solicitors have helped thousands of people to access the compensation that they deserve after an accident or after they have contracted an illness due to the environment they worked in or substances they have been exposed to whilst at work.  For a free initial assessment of your personal injury or industrial disease claim, contact Camps Solicitors today to speak with one of our claims advice team.

The Health and Safety Executive has prosecuted a bus company after one of its employees suffered serious injuries when he was crushed whilst working underneath a bus. The Original London Sightseeing Tour was found to have failed in several key areas of responsibility in the lead up to the accident.

The accident itself happened back in 2009 at a bus depot used by the bus company for the maintenance of its fleet of tour buses. One of the employees was working underneath a bus to refit an airbag. The bus had been lifted about two feet from the floor of the depot in order to provide access for maintenance, during this time it was supported by wooden blocks and column vehicle lifts. Unfortunately, one of these wooden supporting blocks failed, causing the front axle of the bus to drop onto the bus company employee.

The force of the axle dropping onto his chest was enough to leave the employee with serious injuries including a broken pelvis and several broken ribs. He was taken immediately to hospital and spent two weeks there recovering from the broken bones he had suffered. It was to be six months before he was able to return to work and at the time of the Health and Safety Executive prosecution he was reportedly still in pain.

Due to the circumstances of the accident, an investigation was launched to identify any failings by the bus company that may have led to their employee suffering such serious injuries. The investigation found that risk assessments for the bus depot had not been properly reviewed and engineering staff were not involved in the risk assessment process. There were several alternative means to perform the required maintenance of the bus, such as another set of vehicle lifts available at the depot. Alternatively the bus company had access to another depot which had vehicle inspection pits to allow the work to be performed safely. Neither of these alternatives were used, either of which would have prevented the accident.

The bus company was fined £10,500 for breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and was ordered to pay the £10,000 costs of the investigation and prosecution as well.

Accident at work solicitors

The workplace accident solicitors here at Camps help people injured in accidents where they were not to blame to claim the compensation they deserve. Our solicitors will investigate the circumstances of your accident to find out who was responsible for the lapses in health and safety which led to your injuries. We will identify the negligence and proceed to claim against your employer for their failure to prevent your injuries. To find out more about making a claim after an accident at work speak to one of our claims advisors today.

The ASR or Artificial Surface Replacement joint was introduced by DePuy in 2003 and withdrawn in 2010.  It used metallic parts in place of the more usual plastic or ceramic components found in most hip replacements and was designed to be fitted to younger patients as it required less bone to be removed than conventional replacement joints allowing the recipient to keep more healthy bone tissue.  After it was introduced, some patients fitted with the joints began reporting problems with the two halves of the joint, the cup and the socket, working loose.  Some people fitted with the joints have also reported side-effects ranging from pain and swelling around the joint through to bone damage and blood poisoning.

Now several of those who have had the hip joint fitted have launched claims against the manufacturer.   On the BBC news website, one 57 year old man who was fitted with the ASR joint is quoted as saying:

“I woke up one morning and I was in agony…

…And, I felt sick, really sick with the pain.  I feel like an old man – that’s what I feel like – an old man in his eighties. And I feel robbed of my life.”

The joints were fitted to tens of thousands of patients in the seven years they were available.  Some medical experts estimate that around 8,000 joints were fitted to people in the UK and Ireland with many more fitted to patients in the United States and elsewhere.  Several lawsuits have already been started in the US, brought by people who have suffered pain and discomfort from the replacement joints and also from the inconvenience of additional surgery to correct the problem.

Hip replacement compensation claims

If you’ve been affected by the ASR hip replacement joint, our faulty products and personal injury claims solicitors are here to help.  Each year we get compensation settlements that really make a difference to the lives of hundreds of people who have been injured by a faulty in something that they have purchased, or in this case, have been fitted with.  For a free consultation on a faulty product claim or if you have been involved in any other type of accident and you want to find out whether you can claim, talk to Camps today.

Emergency services in Cumbria have issued warnings to motorists not to venture onto roads unless absolutely necessary after freezing rain on road surfaces caused nearly 100 accidents overnight and into today.

Major routes, including the A66 route over the Pennines had to be closed by the police after several vehicles crashed when rain fell onto frozen roads, instantly creating sheets of ice that caused many drivers to lose control of their vehicles.  Other roads affected include the A684 between Kendal and Sedburgh, and the A595 between Cockermouth and Carlisle.  Several accidents were also reported on the M6 motorway, which runs north to south through Cumbria.  As reported on the BBC news website, a spokesperson for Cumbria Police said:

“So far this morning we have had more than 60 road traffic collision reported to us, which is vastly higher than we would expect for an average winter morning.  This is down to the terrible road conditions out there on the main roads…

…We have also seen a large number of collisions on the M6 and extra heavy gritting has been requested from the Highways Agency.  Our advice to motorists is only to travel if journeys are absolutely essential.”

Speaking about the weather conditions, meteorologists said that the presence of a band of cloud and warmer air above a layer of freezing air at ground level meant that any rain that fell froze instantly, creating sheet ice.  As well as private motorists, several bus services in Cumbria were cancelled due to the road conditions and people were urged to look out for older neighbours and those with long-term health conditions if they are unable to travel to hospital or to get medication.

Car crash accidents in icy weather

If you have been involved in an accident during the recent poor weather that has affected the UK, our accident claims solicitors may be able to help.  Any injury you have suffered through no fault of your own and that has been caused by the negligence of another person might mean that you are eligible to claim personal injuries compensation.  Our road accident solicitors help thousands of people injured in accidents, including those which have happened in poor weather conditions, to claim compensation from those responsible.

A manufacturer of air conditioning systems has been fined by the Health and Safety Executive after one of its employee’s was involved in an accident at work in which he lost the tips of his fingers.

Eaton Williams Group Ltd, trading under the name Colman Moducel, was fined £10,000 for breaches in work equipment regulations which lead to their employee’s injury.  The accident itself took place at the firm’s Stoke-on-Trent factory, where a 41-year-old employee sliced off the tips of his fingers on a circular saw as he was trimming metal parts for an air conditioning unit.  After the accident a full investigation by the Health and Safety Executive was launched.

The investigation found that the way in which the Eaton Williams’ employees used the circular saw was unsafe.  A guard which should have covered the top of the saw was not in the correct position and basic protection devices were not being used.  Additionally, workers at the factory had not received proper training to safely use the circular saw.  Finally, and perhaps most seriously, the investigation found that there was a fault in the machine which meant that the emergency stop button was not working.

Workplace accident claims

Around one in ten workers in the UK works in an industrial or manufacturing job.  However the manufacturing sector accounts for one in five work accident fatalities and around one in six of all reported injuries at work.

Here at Camps Solicitors, our workplace accident solicitors have helped thousands of people to make successful compensation claims after they were injured whilst at work through no fault of their own.  If you’ve been involved in an accident similar to the one mentioned here, or in any situation where you feel your employer or your colleagues have been negligent and their negligence has led to your injury, get in touch with our workplace accident claims team today.

These figures again highlight the potential for injuries in and around schools if common sense steps aren’t taken to make sure that both staff members and the pupils in their care can take part safely in enjoyable and educational activities whilst at school.

In total between the three local authorities, 158 successful personal injury and work accident compensation claims were made between 2008 and 2011.  At least 52 of these claims were made by school pupils who had been injured whilst at school.  Successful injury compensation claims ranged from relatively common slipping accidents to more unusual accident circumstances such as a claim made by one pupil whose foot was run over by a bus and an accident where a fire extinguisher was discharged into someone’s face.

In comments reported on the This Is Staffordshire website, Councillor Sarah Hill, a cabinet member for finance at Stoke-on-Trent City Council, said:  “We take all such claims very seriously and they are investigated thoroughly by our insurers.  We only pay out when we are legally liable.”

School and workplace accident claims

Schools, whether you attend them as a pupil or as an employed member of staff, should be safe and well managed institutions where safety risks are kept to an absolute minimum.  Many of the accidents that comprise the statistics mentioned above occurred when quick and easy steps were not taken to ensure the safety of members of the school community.  Here at Camps Solicitors, our personal and workplace injury specialists deal with claims made by school pupils and people working in the education system.  If you have suffered an injury in a school in the last three years and you have been left genuinely disadvantaged then we’d like to hear from you.

Roads and pavements weren’t the only areas affected, with several airports having to reduce the number of flights operating due to the weather.  In London, Heathrow airport cancelled over a third of scheduled flights on Sunday although airport officials said that they hoped to resume a normal service on Monday.  Several schools across the country have also closed, with Leicester, Kent, Essex, North Yorkshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Sussex, Humberside and Derbyshire all having to close some primary and secondary schools because of snow or ice.

With up to 6 inches of snow falling in some areas of England, it wasn’t surprising that the weekend saw widespread disruption, which in many cases carried on into Monday morning.  In particular, the A1 in North Yorkshire was the scene of a number of car accidents that meant a 25 mile section between York and Catterick had to be shut down.

Speaking to the BBC news website, a spokesperson from the Highways Agency said that his organisation had done everything it could to prevent traffic jams for people heading to work after the weekend.  The agency advised commuters to check that the route they take was clear before setting out and also to make sure to have enough fuel and warm clothes in case they were faced with delays due to the weather.

Safer winter driving

Driving in poor weather conditions requires extra care and attention to avoid having a road traffic accident.  As mentioned by the Highways Agency, one of the best ways to make sure that you have a safe journey is to prepare beforehand.  Check the radio or online for updates to see if there are any road closures or long delays reported on your route.  If you are travelling a long distance, then as well as warm clothing, you should also think about taking along some food and drink.  So that you can contact someone if you are delayed or trapped, make sure that your mobile phone has been fully charged.

Most people will be taking extra care on the road in these wintry conditions, but unfortunately there will be a few people who will not be making allowances – putting both themselves and other motorists and pedestrians at risk.  If you are unfortunate enough to be involved in an accident with another motorist who have been driving negligently or even dangerously, then you may have grounds to make a compensation claim against them.  To find out more about road traffic accident claims, talk to the claims advisors at Camps Solicitors today.