A soldier could be awarded £50,000 in damages after he lost the sight in one eye during a water polo game with fellow recruits.

David Gillespie, 31, from Durham, claims the Army is responsible for his injury which happened when he was poked in the eye by another player.

Newcastle County Court heard how Mr Gillespie, then just 20, took part in the game with 16 other new recruits.

Encouraged to keep fit by the Army, the men had originally wanted to play a friendly game of football during their recreation time.

But when they were told it was not permitted they started a game of water polo using a semi-inflated rugby ball at the pool at a base in Reading.

The court heard how the game soon got out of hand with the recruits ducking each other under the water and jumping on which ever team mate was in possession of the ball.

Nicholas Davis, acting for Mr Gillespie, told the court: "They played in the shallow end. The claimant says the water came to about his waste.

"It is clearly a matter of relevance the manner in which the game was played.

"According to his recollection it was played in a reasonable manner for about 20 minutes.

"It then began to get rough, with people ducking each other and the likes. The soldier lifeguard took no action.

"A number of the men complained about the manner in which the game was being played and their was a temporary lull in rough play for 10 minutes then it started getting out of hand.

"During the course of the game the claimant, in the act of passing the ball, was struck in the right eye. The result was he lost his sight. It was probabaly the result of someone pushing a finger into it.

"The claimant says, at the time of the accident, the game was at the stage where any man in possession of the ball was liable to be jumped on by one or more members of the opposing team. The game bore little resemblance to polo."

Mr Gillespie is suing the Army for negligence for letting the game get of hand which resulted in a loss of sight which shattered his career.

He estimates that his loss of earnings through the injury was oe160,000 before tax.

Since the accident he has earned oe51,000 working for Customs and Excise as an anti smuggling officer in Devon.

With that amount and tax deducted it leaves him with a claim of 68,824.

Mr Gillespie began his army career in November 1990 and was discharged on medical grounds on May 23 1991.