Aston Villa star Darren Bent was entitled to hire an Aston Martin sports car at a cost of more than £500 a day after his Mercedes sports car was damaged in an accident, judges have ruled.

Insurers argued that the Villa and England striker - who was not to blame for the crash - should have found a cheaper option.

But three appeal judges concluded that 27-year-old Bent was entitled to recover the cost of hiring the Aston Martin DB9 at a daily rate of £573.28 plus VAT.

They said Bent, who hired the car for about three months after the accident in Greenwich, south London in 2007, should get more than £50,000 in total.

The ruling, which followed a hearing in London, was the latest stage of litigation which had started in a county court.

Judges heard that a van had come out of a side road and hit Bent's £72,000 Mercedes AMG CLS 63R, causing about £20,000 damage.

The van owner's insurers accepted that Bent was entitled to hire a "broadly equivalent" car while his was being mended.

But they pointed out that the Aston Martin was worth about £105,000 - more than Bent's Mercedes.

And they said the total hire costs added up to nearly as much as Bent's Mercedes was worth.

But Lord Justice Pill, Lord Justice Moore-Bick and Lord Justice Aikens ruled in Bent's favour.

The judges heard that Bent had also owned a 4x4 left-hand drive Cadillac at the time of the accident.