A man whose fingers were sliced open as he tried to uncork a faulty wine bottle has won a £10,000 payout from the supermarket which sold it.

Peter Anderson was using a corkscrew to open one of two bottles of Rocco Piresca red wine which his flatmate bought from the Windmill Supermarket in Ealing when the neck sheared off, gashing three of his fingers so badly that he needed hospital surgery.

The 28-year-old watersports fanatic was unable to go waterskiing or scuba diving for nine months following the accident in June 2006, and the supermarket's owners finally agreed to the compensation claim in August.

Mr Anderson, who moved to Australia following the accident, said: "I have never had a wine bottle break off in my hand before

"As I pulled the cork out, the neck of the bottle just came away from the rest of the bottle. There was blood everywhere - it could have taken my fingers off.

"I am just relieved that a settlement has now been offered and I can put the accident behind me and move on.

"Windmill Supermarket sold a product which was defective and caused injury to my hand which I will never fully recover from.

"I just hope that suppliers are aware they cannot get away with selling defective goods which endanger members of the public."

Doctors stitched three of his fingers and put his hand in a splint following the accident.

Mr Anderson had to undergo three months of physiotherapy and lost 10 per cent of power in the grip of his left hand.

Katrina Elsey, a personal injury specialist at lawyers Irwin Mitchell, who represented the victim, said: "The wine bottle in question was quite clearly of an unsatisfactory quality.

"It did not meet the standard that a reasonable person would regard as satisfactory and the neck of the bottle should not have come away from the bottle when Mr Anderson was trying to open it in the ordinary manner.

The injuries he suffered could have been much worse.

"Windmill Supermarket eventually admitted liability and they have offered £10,000 compensation for the distress Mr Anderson has suffered."

The Gazette contacted Windmill Supermarket but no-one was available to comment.