The family of a father who died during a drug trial at the Royal Marsden cancer hospital have won compensation.

Gareth Kingdon, 39, a tax director from Tunbridge Wells, suffered severe lung damage while having treatment for testicular cancer at the Royal Marsden in 2006.

The treatment before his death was carried out at the Sutton branch of the Royal Marsden and during his illness he had been treated at the hospital’s Sutton and Fulham sites.

A chemotherapy drug used in the trial gave him fatal side effects and hospital staff failed to spot the symptoms and carried on giving him the drug for another four weeks.

It is understood that the NHS have agreed to pay the family a six-figure settlement.

The Royal Marsden has not admitted liability but have apologised to Mr Kingdon’s widow.

A spokesperson for the NHS foundation trust, said: "Gareth Kingdon sadly died on 29 December 2006 following treatment with bleomycin (chemotherapy treatment) for testicular cancer.

"The trust did not accept liability in relation to the claim made and a defence was served after having obtained expert evidence which supported the trust's actions.

"The claim was ultimately settled on a substantially discounted litigation risk basis as it was not possible to determine whether the bleomycin treatment ought to have been stopped earlier and whether or not this would have made any difference to the outcome.

"The terms of the settlement that have been reached are the subject of a confidential schedule and therefore the trust is not able to go into any further detail. 

"The trust has apologised to Mrs Kingdon for any possibility that the care Mr Kingdon received was not of the highest standard which is to be expected by all patients attending the trust."