A court could yet decide the level of damages due to be paid to a man who lost part of his leg after being hit by a police car on a 999 call.

David Layton, along with his wife Lillian, successfully sued Cleveland police following the crash and won his civil case in May last year.

However more than eight months on both sides have yet to reach an out of court settlement and a provisional date of February 25 has been set for a judge to decide the amount of compensation to be paid.

Mr Layton, of Bruce Avenue, Middlesbrough, had his left leg amputated below the knee as a result of the injuries he sustained in the accident in Acklam Road on November 13 1999.

The driver of the police car, PC Trevor Myers, was criticised by Judge Peter Fox for "not being the most reliable witness".

He said that "liability in its primary sense" was found in terms of his driving being the cause of the accident with the officer having failed to sound his siren to give enough warning of his approach.

Last night Mr Layton's solicitor Geoff Cruickshank said: "I am reasonably confident that we will be able to achieve a satisfactory settlement without it having to be decided by a court.

"To be fair to the police we have been waiting for a specialist report to come through on the impact of Mr Layton's injuries which was expected before Christmas.

"Until we and the solicitors acting for the police see that it will be difficult to put an accurate valuation on the claim.

"We wouldn't expect them to put an offer forward based on incomplete information."

Mr Layton has already received a £5,000 interim payment from Cleveland police.

His wife Lillian, who received minor injuries in the accident, settled her claim with the police shortly after the original court case for an undisclosed sum.

Mr Cruickshank added: "I had a recent meeting with David and he knows exactly what the score is. It is just a case of wait and see."

Mr Layton, who had been due to start a job as a taxi driver before the accident, now wears a prosthetic limb.

He has said he bears no malice to PC Myers, a dog handler with the Cleveland force, and just wants to carry on with re-building his life.

A spokeswoman for Cleveland police said the report would determine the possible loss of earnings Mr Layton had suffered as a result of the crash.

She said: "We will decide how to proceed depending on the content of the report."