A MAN who lost his leg after a coach crash which killed three people has lost his battle for compensation.

Clifford Fulcher was a passenger on a coach which had just left Dalaman Airport, in Turkey, when it was involved in a head-on collision.

The impact killed the driver, and the driver and passenger of a lorry.

The accident happened on a winding mountain road in July 1995 at about 4am.

Mr Fulcher, who is in his fifties, lost his left leg below the knee as a result of injuries.

Newcastle Crown Court heard how Mr Fulcher booked his holiday through Inspirations travel company.

The company accepted responsibility for any bodily injury caused to their holiday-makers if the injury was caused by the negligence of one of their sub-contractors.

Mr Fulcher claimed that the driver of the coach was negligent because he had cut a corner immediately before impact, and in cutting the corner went onto the opposite side of the road.

But tour rep Alison Drummond, who was also on board, told the court how the coach was on the right side of the road - and it was the lorry that was on the wrong side.

Judge Esmond Faulks said: "Having considered the arguments and evidence put forward by counsel, I conclude in this case there is no satisfactory evidence of negligence by the coach driver.

"Nor was there any material fault on his part which led to the accident and, in the circumstances, the claim must fail."