A noisy import from the South African World Cup could cause a major legal headache for English football clubs, a leading industrial deafness lawyer has claimed.

Ashley Attwood said football clubs should guard against injury to ground staff and even players caused by people blowing the Vuvuzela.

Mr Attwood heads the team of Midlands based personal injury law specialists Attwood Solicitors.

He said: “Several high profile clubs have banned the Vuvuzela but others such as Manchester United, Chelsea and my home town club, Stoke City, don’t appear to have a policy.

“The sound of a Vuvuzela reaches around 100 decibels which is over the threshold for noise allowed in heavy industry.

“There is no doubt that this could cause permanent damage to people’s hearing.”

Shops in the UK are thought to have sold around 10,000 Vuvuzelas during and since the World Cup.

Mr Attwood said football clubs, like factory owners had a duty to protect employees against excessive noise.

However, he said it was unlikely that supporters could make a claim against a club as they attended the event voluntarily knowing that it could be extremely noisy.

Attwood Solicitors has held free hearing clinics for workers in industries such as quarrying, tyre plants and clothing factories and has won compensation for more than 100 clients.

Noise above 80 decibels – roughly the same as an average alarm clock – is considered dangerous but many older people are now suffering from damage caused before current health and safety standards were introduced.

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For further information contact Ashley Attwood on 0800 587 3231or log on to www.attwoodsolicitors.co.uk.

Notes to Editors:

Attwood Solicitors are personal injury specialists based in Stoke-on-Trent.

More than £2.25 million has been successfully claimed by Attwood Solicitors to help people who have suffered in an accident.