AN electrician assaulted in a pub toilet has been awarded £6,000 compensation.

Kevin Spink was given the payout by a judge after two men admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm on him in the British Queen pub in Duckworth Street, Darwen.

The compensation was awarded to cover Mr Spink's loss of earnings while off work with a broken ankle.

As well as being ordered to pay the compensation, Alan Ainsworth, 46, of Osborne Terrace, Darwen, and Geoffrey Ribchester, 41, of Ulverston Close, Blackburn, were given eight-month jail terms suspended for two years.

Preston Crown Court was told that Mr Spink was assaulted after a row over whether a friend of his was looking at Ainsworth.

Jeffrey Samuels, for Ainsworth, said the defendant accepted having used unlawful violence, but he denied that it was deliberate.

Julian Holt, for Ribchester, said his client had been sober at home when he a phone call asked him to go to the pub.

He added: "He says that had he realised what it was all about and not what he understood, he would not have gone. He feels shame and distress at appearing in court for the first time."

Judge Michael Byrne, in passing sentence, said Mr Spink had been "far from blameless" in the incident.