A man said he endured a “living hell” when two hospitals failed to diagnose his broken leg.

Colin Wilson, of Braithwaite, Keighley, was injured in an accident in Hull, but said when he attended hospital there he was offered no X-ray or pain relief.

He managed to return to Keighley, only for the break to be missed again – this time at Airedale General Hospital.

“I now know the original injury was a broken tibia, which requires a metal plate inserting,” he said.

“The past two weeks for me have been a living hell, compliments of Airedale Hospital and the NHS.”

Mr Wilson, a self-employed website designer, suffered the injury on February 9, when a friend greeted him over-exuberantly by jumping on him.

Although in a lot of pain, he did not attend Hull Royal Infirmary until February 11, not realising how serious the injury was.

“The triage nurse informed me it was pointless carrying out X-rays because they would have to send them to my local hospital,” he said. “I asked about pain relief and was told I’d get this from Airedale. When I asked how I was supposed to get home she replied ‘I can give you some crutches for the journey’.

“So I left with my crutches and got a lift home from a friend.”

Mr Wilson, 31, arrived at Airedale later that day, but received no scan or painkillers.

He said: “The doctor concluded it was muscle damage and referred me to a physiotherapist. I finally obtained pain relief after phoning my GP and having a telephone consultation.”

The broken leg was diagnosed a week later. However, Mr Wilson said when he went to Airedale for the operation, on February 19, the procedure was repeatedly delayed, meaning he was unable to eat for nearly 17 hours.

“I was so fatigued and hungry I discharged myself, and asked the consultant to book me an outpatient appointment,” he said.

Airedale’s director of operations Stacey Hunter said: “It’s regrettable Mr Wilson was not X-rayed when he first attended our A&E.

“However, concerns about his injury were picked up as part of his physiotherapy referral and he was X-rayed and immediately referred to an orthopaedic specialist.

“Further tests and discussions with colleagues followed to ensure the most appropriate treatment was carried out.

“Our rescheduling of his operation was a clinical decision, to ensure we had a full picture of his injury and that a knee specialist could carry out his surgery.

“We apologise to Mr Wilson for the breakdown in communication.”

A spokesman for Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust responded: “We are unable to comment on the details of Mr Wilson’s case for reasons of patient confidentiality. To date we have not received any contact from him about this issue, so we’d encourage him to speak with us directly.”