Rapper Sean "P Diddy" Combs has been ordered to pay $2.45m (�1.5m) to a man who says he was beaten up by his bodyguards at a 1995 Mary J Blige concert.

A judge in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, made the ruling after neither Combs nor his lawyers met a 30-day time limit to answer the allegations made by limo driver Cedrick Bobby Lemon.

Mr Lemon alleged that Combs, who was Blige's manager at the time, had hired the bodyguards for a performance at the Joel Coliseum at Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

He claims that they punched him as they tried to clear the area to allow Blige to leave after the show, even though he had proper backstage authorization.

Mr Lemon required hospital treatment after suffering a broken ankle in the incident.

The incident occurred at a Mary J Blige concert

"I was in a great amount of pain," he said in the lawsuit, adding that Combs' bodyguards have left him "permanently impaired" and unable to work.

He added that "Combs bore primary responsibility for failing to keep his minions from using unnecessary violence to accomplish any legitimate purpose".

Mr Lemon's lawyer said that while the judge had made the correct decision, his client was "not ecstatic yet because he has not received any money".

Combs will have the right to appeal against the lawsuit.

A spokeswoman for the rapper dismissed the claim as having "no merit whatsoever", adding: "We intend to take all necessary steps to have it dismissed."

Combs' legal bills have continued to mount in recent years.

Although he was found not guilty last year of gun possession and bribery charges following a nightclub shooting, he still faces a billion-dollar lawsuit from the victims.

His ex-driver, Wardel Fenderson, who accused the rapper of bribery, is also suing him for $3m (�1.9m).

And earlier this year he finally settled a custody case over his three-year-old son after failing to show up for the hearing on nine previous occasions.