A north Essex man has been charged with grievous bodily harm after an Ipswich father-of-three was seriously hurt during a night out.

Daniel Buck, of Oulton Road, Ipswich, spent nearly three weeks in hospital after sustaining a fractured skull and a bleed to the brain.

It resulted from an incident in March this year at the Old Cattle Market bus station in Ipswich

The 32-year-old scaffolder, who is a well-known local footballer, was taken to Ipswich Hospital where he was initially said to be in a serious, but stable condition.

He had been at Revolution in Old Cattle Market when he became embroiled in a verbal altercation with another man.

A short time later he was in the fish and chip shop opposite the nightspot when he was allegedly hit with an object, causing him to fall to the floor.

During the subsequent police investigation a 26-year-old man from the Clacton area was arrested, questioned and released on bail pending further enquiries.

Anne-Marie Breach, a spokeswoman for Suffolk Constabulary, has said the man has now been charged after being due to answer his bail on Wednesday.

Lewis Jones, 26, of Park Road, St. Osyth, Clacton-on-Sea, has been charged with unlawfully and maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm upon a person at Ipswich on March 28.

Jones is now due to make his first appearance on the charge at South East Suffolk Magistrates’ Court on August 30. He is currently on bail.

Mr Buck – known to many as “Bucky” or “Danny” - is a familiar face among grass-roots football teams in Suffolk.

He played as a defender for Crane Sports Football Club – part of Suffolk and Ipswich Football League – and had previously been with Ipswich Wanderers and Ipswich Valley Rangers.

Shortly after the incident Crane’s FC released a statement wishing Mr Buck a speedy recovery.

It said: “Our thoughts and best wishes go out to Crane stalwart and all-round good guy Danny Buck.

East Bergholt’s manager David Goodchild described Mr Buck as “one of the nice guys in local football”.