A PRESTWICH businessman has been awarded £950 after being humiliated by a ship's officer on a luxury P&O Caribbean cruise.

Race horse owner Mr Stuart Mercer, owner of Mercer Racing, said his holiday was ruined when attention was drawn to his thinning hair.

The embarrassing incident happened when Mr Mercer , aged 54, and his wife, who had paid £3,740 for the cruise, were enjoying drinks with friends in the bar aboard the MJV Victoria.

A number of officers were also relaxing in the bar and during the course of the evening Mr Mercer noticed that one of them was taking an unusual interest in him .

He said: "He seemed to be staring straight at me and he kept touching his temple.

"I ignored him but he suddenly came across, ruffled my hair with his hand and started laughing."

Balding Mr Mercer combs his hair to one side, Bobby Charlton style, but the strands came tumbling down thanks to the prank by Fourth Engineer Tim Cooper.

Mr Mercer said: "He thought it was very funny, but I told him he would be laughing on the other side of his face.

"It did cross my mind to punch him on the nose, but I thought twice about it." P&O assured him that the officer had been disciplined and offered him a letter of apology for the public humiliation, which he refused.

He added: "I decided to take it further as a matter of principle. Drunken staff should never have been allowed to drink in the bar in the first place."

Prestwich solicitor Aubrey Isaacson took up the case and began a county court claim for aggravated damages for assault.

But last month, after a two year legal battle, P&O upped their offer of compensation from £150 to £950 and Mr Mercer accepted, rather than go through a lengthy court case.

He said: "In all fairness I have no grievance now, I am happy with the outcome and now want to put it behind me. I would travel with P&O again, but never on that particular ship."

The whole matter has led to Mr Mercer becoming the subject of huge media interest, with national newspapers and television companies beating a path to his door.

He said: "The other day I was dreaming about football and was awoken by my wife showing me my photograph alongside Bobby Charlton in a tabloid newspaper.

"For one moment I thought I'd been picked to play for England!"

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