COUNCIL bosses have apologised after mistakenly asking a crash victim to pay for road repairs caused by the smash.

The victim was one of five men hit when a car driven by Max Maxwell careered off Furtherwick Road, in Canvey, in April last year.

The man has since recovered from his injuries.

But when he contacted Essex County Council to inquire about why safety bollards at the scene had not been repaired, the man was told he was liable for the work and was asked to provide his insurance details.

He has since received a written apology from council bosses, who have admitted mistaking the victim – who raised thousands of pounds for the air ambulance after the crash – for perpetrator Max Maxwell.

An Essex Highways spokesman said: “It does happen from time to time that we are given details of someone involved in a crash which damaged public property.

“When this happens we are duty-bound to ask them, or in effect their insurance company, to pay for repairs.

“In this instance, we were not told that this man was a victim, but as soon as he told us we explained and apologised to him and we would like to extend this apology once more.

“The bollards in Furtherwick Road, which are to prevent parking on the pavement, were replaced.”

Max Maxwell, 18, of Small Gains Avenue, Canvey, was jailed for three years and three months after running over a group of friends heading to watch the Grand National.

He admitted three counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving, two counts of actual bodily harm and aggravated vehicle taking.

The crash happened on Saturday, April 14 last year in the busy road near Canvey seafront.