London, Oct 7 : An Indian-born neurosurgeon spoke of his "great surprise" after finding that the severely damaged skull of a British man involved in a car crash 50 years ago has regenerated itself.

Doctors, who operated to treat an infection in Gordon Moore's head, found the bone had grown back beneath the metal plate inserted after the accident - a development thought to be rare among adults.

Moore, a 75-year-old former postmaster, suffered serious head injuries and had to undergo life-saving operations after his car overturned in 1955.

Doctors inserted a metal plate above his eye and on top of his skull, but the plate was dented three years later, when Moore had another accident, this time crashing his car into a lamppost.

His consultant, Parameswaran S. Bhattathiri, a neurosurgeon from Kerala, told the Newcastle-based Evening Chronicle: "It was a great surprise to find the skull had grown back.

"You would expect it in a child, but not in an adult, certainly not in an area of bone so big."

His new skull reportedly follows the contours of the dent suffered in the second crash.

Moore said the plate had never bothered him, but he was relieved he would no longer "set the alarms off at the airport".

"They were amazed when they found it. Apparently it is very rare. The neurosurgeon said he had never seen anyone grow a complete skull before. But bone does grow, and it has had 50-odd years to do the growing," Moore said.

Moore told the paper Bhattathiri had good news after he awoke from the operation: "He said 'I'm afraid we had to take the plate out. The good news is apparently you have grown a new skull'."(IANS)