AN ANGRY dog-owner today told of his ongoing fight for compensation nine months after his pet suffered horrendous injuries while playing in an Ipswich park.

AN ANGRY dog-owner today told of his ongoing fight for compensation nine months after his pet suffered horrendous injuries while playing in an Ipswich park.

Martin Hill's dog Luke, a four-year-old lurcher, snared his leg on a piece of metal sticking out of the ground in Landseer Park.

It came close to cutting a main artery and required hours of treatment.

But despite making a claim against Ipswich Borough Council, the matter has still not been resolved.

Mr Hill said: “He was in an animal hospital for a week and his treatment cost �1,800. Luckily he was insured, but I had to pay a �70 excess and the premium has gone up.

“But more important than that, he was in a great deal of pain and he needed a lot of treatment. He's lost a lot of muscle in that leg - if he was a racing greyhound he would have to be retired.”

Mr Hill, from Howden Road, said his claim for compensation has been in the hands of the council and its insurers for nine months, and still seems no nearer being resolved.

“This happened one evening and I called the council the next day and told them the problem. They called me back later that day and arranged for me to go out with someone to show them where this metal was because it was quite well hidden by grass.

“I think it is an old venting pipe from when the park was a tip - it was removed the day after so they recognised it was a hazard to be dealt with urgently.

“Although I was insured, I have still lost out and had to miss some work and overtime to deal with this.

“But the council say it is now in the hands of the insurance company - and the insurers say they are still waiting for information from the council. This has been going on for nine months now,” he said.

Ipswich Council leader Liz Harsant - herself a dog-owner - appreciated that it must be frustrating for Mr Hill.

“These things do take time to resolve, but this seems an awfully long time to be dragging on.

“I shall take it up with officers and see if anything can be done to speed things along - it should not take as long as that.”