A beautician who was left disabled for life after a collision with a profoundly deaf lorry driver has won £1.25m agreed compensation.

Alison Robins, 31, suffered such severe brain damage during the 1996 accident that she is only a fraction above a persistent vegetative state, London's High Court heard on Friday.

In an earlier court hearing, a judge blamed lorry driver Robert Singh, of Witney, for the tragedy after driving on to the wrong side of the road near Hartwell, Northants, to avoid drifting snow. He careered straight into the path of Miss Robins, whose parents Joan and Kenneth, of Hartwell, have sacrificed everything to care for her.

After struggling to offer care in their own home, the couple reluctantly agreed to put their daughter into a Hemel Hempstead care home. Mr Justice Andrew Smith, who described the settlement of £1.25m, paid tribute to Mr and Mrs Robins.