A takeaway restaurant owner who faced having to pay thousands of pounds in compensation to a customer who slipped on his floor after a night out drinking can heave a sigh of relief after an Appeal Court ruling.

Mozaffar Kiapasha, who owns Takeaway Supreme in Consett, was left with the bill after Judge Walton found him liable for Lynn Laverton's severe injuries at Newcastle County Court in April.

But yesterday the Appeal Court cleared the restaurateur of blame for the October 1999 accident in which Ms Laverton, then aged 30, suffered a shattered left ankle.

Ms Laverton had been on a night out in Consett, County Durham, when she visited Mr Kiapasha's restaurant.

The floor was slippery and damp from customers entering with wet shoes, and Ms Laverton, who agreed she had drunk about 11 units of alcohol that night, fell while waiting in the queue.

Believing she had only sprained her ankle Ms Laverton returned home. She was later taken to hospital by ambulance with a badly displaced fracture.

In April, Judge Walton ruled Mr Kiapasha was to blame for the accident because a floor mat had not been in the right place and not enough had been done to keep the floor dry.

But, upholding the restaurateur's appeal, Lady Justice Hale said the floor had been fitted with non-slip tiles and to expect Mr Kiapasha to keep the floor dry at all times amounted to a "counsel of perfection".

She said Ms Laverton had had a considerable amount to drink and, even had she found Mr Kiapasha negligent, she would have ruled the accident victim 50 per cent responsible for her own misfortune.