“Alfie came running home with his mouth hanging off,” said Clare Metson. “His lip had come away and was hanging like a flap. I could see his teeth even though his mouth was shut.”

Alfie Albrighton, 6, was rushed to hospital, where he underwent several hours of surgery and was left with 170 stitches on his face. It is likely that he will be scarred for life and may need plastic surgery at a later date.

However the physical injury Alfie has sustained appears to be only the beginning of the damage caused by the accident. His mother has expressed her worries about her son’s future and the mental scars he may have left him with from the accident. Alfie has lost half a stone in weight and Ms Metson affirms that the incident has “changed him completely. He is always hiding his face trying not to look at people.”

Alfie is due to start Year 2 at St. John’s Primary in Bow in September, but he is fearful of how the other children will react to the prominent scarring caused by the incident.

Ms Metson is requesting compensation for her son’s personal injury from Old Ford Housing Association, which is part of the Circle Anglia Group. When asked about the incident, a spokesperson expressed their concern.

“Our priority is to provide a safe environment for all our residents to live in,” the spokesperson said. “We immediately inspected the railings with our contactors and they are of a standard type and designed to fence off the bin areas.”

The spokesperson also commented that the compensation claim Ms Metson has filed is currently being reviewed. However Ms Metson states that she “hasn’t heard a single thing” from the Old Ford Housing since the incident.

Although Mr Plant, 60, is believed not to have sustained any personal injuries, the other driver, Richard Grant, was knocked unconscious and suffered whiplash due to the incident, which took place on the evening of July 2, 2009.

“I was unconscious for a little while and then I saw him standing there. I was pretty groggy when I saw him, but later on the officers told me who it was,” said Mr Grant, who, somewhat ironically, is a drugs counsellor.

“I went to hospital for five hours and luckily there were no broken bones, but I was badly bruised on the arm and had whiplash.”

Mr Grant’s Mercedes SL 300 was written off following the collision with the famous frontman’s Audi A8. It is unclear who was at fault for the accident, or whether either victim has claimed or will claim for compensation.

Shelagh Leach, 83, suffered serious personal injury after she was hit by a car outside a petrol station. The driver, Paul Barnard, accidentally mounted the pavement when he swerved to enter the filling station entrance. He then hit Ms Leach and drove off without stopping, leaving her suffering by the roadside.

Barnard was convicted at Hastings Magistrates’ Court of driving without due care and attention. Ms Leach’s solicitors have now started legal proceedings, seeking compensation of between £100,000 and £150,000 from the motorist’s insurance company.

Ms Leach, a retired teacher, spent nearly two months in hospital recovering from the accident. She suffered two broken legs and needed emergency surgery upon arriving at the hospital. Her solicitors claim that before the accident she was healthy and active, but the road accident has since left her traumatised and immobilised by her injuries.

Craig Alan Johnson, 31, of Wigan, attempted to sue for compensation, alleging that he had suffered personal injury by tripping over an uneven paving stone in Hindley in 2006. It was claimed that his alleged fall was due to the council’s failure to safely maintain the pavement for pedestrians.

However, shortly after the investigation began, the council found inconsistencies in Johnson’s version of events. This led to Judge Peter Main QC deciding to completely reject Johnson’s version, suggesting that the evidence was “not accurate or acceptable,” and that he felt as though he was “being misled” by the attempted compensation claim.

Paul Prescott, Wigan Council’s Cabinet Lifestyles Champion, said: “We are pleased with the court’s decision because it shows how effective our investigations can be. It sends the message that if you make such allegations and they are not true, you are very likely to be caught out. Compensation claims cost money, hit council services and they hit the people that pay for those services through their Council Tax.”

As a result of his actions, Johnson could now face a criminal investigation for his fraudulent personal injury claim.

Rees Ross, of Lincoln, is now disabled as a result of the accidental injury, which happened five years ago. According to the family’s solicitors, West Lincolnshire Primary Care Trust have agreed to pay compensation towards the boy’s care after doctors admitted delays in sending him to hospital.

Rees had returned home from school complaining of feeling ill, after he had bumped heads with another boy while participating in a football game. His mother, Lisa Ross, phoned NHS Direct for medical help on three occasions, but each time she was told to give her son painkillers and to let him sleep.

However hours later he suffered a seizure and was rushed to hospital, where doctors found that he had internal bleeding. After surgery, Rees now has difficulty speaking and can only walk short distances without the aid of a wheelchair.

Tim Annett, from Irwin Mitchell solicitors, is in the process of calculating the amount of compensation required to pay for the youngster’s long-term care.

Andrew Henley, 26, from Milton in Staffordshire, was left in a coma for three weeks and took a further seven months to recover from the near-fatal accident, which took place in nearby Keele in October 2006. He claims to still suffer mental and physical injuries, including permanent damage to his arms and what his family has described as a change in personality, such as a short temper and a lack of motivation.

The incident took place in the early hours of the morning, while Mr Henley and his girlfriend at the time made their way to a party that they had heard rumours about.

“The path to the rave was marked out with glowsticks, but some of them had been nicked,” he said. “You had to go over the tunnel to get down, but because it was so dark I went straight over the hedge and fell on to the railway line.”

The fall caused Mr Henley to suffer a fractured skull, broken tibia, four fractured ribs and permanent damage to his elbows. According to his father, he even came close to dying from his injuries during the first few days of the three-week coma.

Since the accident, Mr Henley has found it difficult to find employment. At first he returned to his old job, only to be made redundant a few months later. He has now asked his solicitor to start proceedings to claim compensation for the accident. It is unclear who owns the land where the accident happened, which is 100 yards from the nearest road, but it is believed that it could belong to Network Rail.

Mr Henley added: “You can’t get to the place now, there’s fences all around it and it’s all padlocked. If it had been like that before, I wouldn’t have had the accident.”

Road accidents and public liability claims have soared in recent months, as a result of damage to roads caused by the winter’s cold weather. The public themselves have not been helping the situation either, as many people are avoiding servicing their cars in an effort to save money, or in fear that they will be hit with expensive repair and maintenance costs. This has also contributed to the rise in accidents, due to more cars on the road which could be considered as not roadworthy.

There has also been a sharp rise in the number of work accident claims in the country. According to recent research, firms are putting less importance on health and safety regulations, possibly in an attempt to cut costs. However this could work against them if an accident does occur and a compensation claim is made.

Sally Price, a lifelong fan of the 64-year-old singer, was struck by a football that Stewart had kicked towards the audience at the Point Depot concert. A tradition that the rocker has been doing at his concerts for over 30 years, Stewart kicked dozens of autographed footballs into the crowd, much to the delight of his fans.

The court heard that on this occasion, Stewart miskicked one of the balls, which hit the rigging above the stage at the venue and then came down on the fan’s head at such a pace that it knocked her over and left her feeling dazed for some time. Judge Jacqueline Linnane at the Circuit Civil Court awarded the sum to her after hearing that she continues to suffer whiplash-like injuries years after the incident took place, right into the present.

The concert promoters, MCD Promotions Ltd of Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin, were slapped with the bill after the judge decided that the claimant had suffered concussion as a result of the incident.

The singer’s management team gave her four autographed footballs as an apology, two of which she gave to the doctor who treated her. Stewart, who is a keen Celtic supporter and who once trained as a professional footballer, also met with Mrs Price.

“I have always been a fan of his music and the singer came down to see me as I was being treated,” she said. “I would have been so pleased to have met him on a happier occasion.”

Hugh O’Keeffe, counsel for Mrs Price, told the court that such a reckless act could have been avoided and that the potential danger of the entertainer’s actions were foreseeable, leaving the concert promoters liable in negligence for the whiplash-like injuries to Mrs Price’s neck and shoulders.

Some 22 of the 30 passengers on board at the time of the accident suffered personal injuries, with 17 of them children. However, while 15 of that number were treated and later released, the five adult passengers were treated for “serious” injuries.

According to reports, some of the passengers aboard the zoo train claimed the park equipment was swiftly travelling around a railroad curve, behind the zoo’s Gorilla Forest exhibit,when it derailed and flipped onto its side.

The first personal injury lawsuit was launched bythe Bamforth family of Charlestown, Indiana. Kentucky personal injury attorneys also filed for a restraining order to stop the zoo from altering the scene after the Kentucky Department of Agriculture finished its investigation.

Five other families – 12 people in total – have also retained legal counsel and filed a personal injury lawsuit against the zoo citing injuries involving the derailment. Louisville personal injury lawyers allege the speed of the train seemed abnormally fast for a zoo attraction especially one transporting children.

Michael Adams, of St Albans, believes he was forced into driving into the back of a car by two conmen who were working together in separate cars.

Whilst driving on a roundabout he saw two cars which he states “appeared to be dithering around”.

When behind one of the vehicles it quickly slammed its brakes on, meaning that Mr Adams could not avoid hitting it as the other car was positioned to take up the only space that could have been used to swerve around the first car.

Mr Adams said: “The man got out of his car and when I asked him why he stopped he said the car in front had braked. The man claimed he did not speak English even though he wrote his name and address for Mr Adams.”

Within a matter of days there were three separate personal injury claims that had been lodged by the first driver and his two passengers. All three claims were seeking whiplash compensation as part of a personal injury claim.

Mr Adams said: “I just want to warn people to be aware if they see cars being driven strangely like these two to keep well back in case they are trying to trap another driver to win big cash payouts.”

The businessman has lost his no claims bonus and will face higher car insurance premiums in the future due to the personal injury claims listed against him. He asked his insurance company to fight the case as he believes the claims are fraudulent but they decided to pay the injured parties.