A man has been seriously injured by a toilet that exploded in his face.

Michel Pierre needed 30 stitches on his face after he checked the water pressure in his New York apartment and shards of porcelain blasted from the lavatory, hitting his head, arms and legs, and knocking him unconscious.

The 58-year-old is now forced to hide behind his bathroom door and flush the toilet with a rope because he is so scared it will burst again.

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“Obviously there is a serious problem in the building,” his lawyer Sanford Rubenstein said.

“Clearly toilets are supposed to flush, not explode.”

Three other toilets also exploded that day. It is suspected that the water had been turned off in the block on the day of the accident, causing a build-up of air pressure that was pushed through the pipes when the supply was switched back on.

Mr Pierre is now seeking compensation for the incident from the agency that runs the 16-storey, 275 flat complex that was built in 1964.

Theresa Racht, a lawyer representing the building's board, said: “This is a horrific incident. Everybody feels terrible that such a thing could have happened.

”It certainly makes me think twice about flushing the toilet when the water's been turned off. This could very well be what we call a true accident.“