Demand for pavement improvements in Darwen after pensioner is hurt in fall

2:27pm Monday 4th February 2013 in News Photograph of the Author By Dan Clough, Reporter

Jean Holmes is recovering after her fall Jean Holmes is recovering after her fall

PAVEMENTS in Darwen have been slammed after an 83-year-old grandmother-of-five fell and dislocated her shoulder.

Jean Holmes was pushing her trolley along Market Street when a wheel got caught in a crack in the pavement, sending her crashing to the floor.

Mrs Holmes, of Hindle Court, in Peabody Street, said the incident had made her lose the confidence to go out.

And a former councillor branded the pavement as ‘terrible’.

She said: “I don’t know what happened, really. It all happened so quickly.

“I just remember my hands came off the trolley and I could feel myself going, and I thought, ‘no, don’t fall’.

“Then I went flying through the air and I landed on my shoulder.

“I don’t like stopping in – I was always out and about.

“But this has unnerved me. I can’t go out at the moment.”

The accident happened at 4.30pm last Friday and Mrs Holmes was taken to Royal Blackburn Hospital.

Mrs Holmes, a mother-of-two with five grandaughters, said: “A friend was nearby at the time and she came to the hospital and stayed with me until I was discharged at 1.15am.

“It is very sore now and I can’t lift my arm properly.”

Blackburn with Darwen Council executive member for regeneration Dave Harling said: “I will report this to the highways department as soon as possible to get it fixed.”

Mrs Holmes, who worked as a domestic cleaner before her retirement, said: “I hope they do repair the pavement, but it isn’t just there that it is bad.

“There are a lot of pavements in the town that need to be made a lot smoother.”

Former town councillor Martin McCaughran said he was approached by Mrs Holmes after her accident.

He said: “The pavements all over Darwen are terrible.

“This has been reported over and over and nothing has been done.

“I feel so frustrated about it.”

Comments(9)

amazed says...
4:16pm Mon 4 Feb 13

Of course the pavements are terrible. What are the blokes who stroll about in uniforms suppose to do?. They are "Town Wardens" or something (can't remember their title) but they walk around in two's and presumably trip up on the pavement joints I expect.!! If their job is not to report these matters and see that they are attended to, why are they employed in the first place? Either sort them out or save some money and get rid of them....

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Private I says...
4:37pm Mon 4 Feb 13

I feel sorry for Mrs Holmes & hope she gets well soon. However, Martin McCaughran is a hypocrite of the worse kind. As a Liberal Democrat it is his party colleagues in the national coalition government that has cut millions from the grant provided for services provided by BWD Council. It therefore should come as no surprise that the highways money available to repair roads & footpaths in Darwen & elsewhere in the Borough is no longer there anymore.

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N4you! says...
8:13pm Mon 4 Feb 13

the council is lazy and a waste of space, why do they resurface (waste money on) roads which dont need touching at all just before the financial year starts?
robbing b@$+arDs!!!!!!!!!!!

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amazed says...
9:17pm Mon 4 Feb 13

Whilst I sympathise with what Private says, surely it is the Council's responsibility to see that pavements are made safe. It is the same old story. We had a great deal of trouble a year or two ago to get a big hole in the road repaired. As I pointed out at the time, if a cyclist had hit the hole in the dark and suffered a serious injury, it would have cost the Council far more in the payment of compensation than the cost of simply coming up and filling the hole in. They eventually saw sense (and in fact repaired most of the other holes in the road as well), Stop making political points and look after the public who pay a lot of Council Tax to pay for these matters.

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happycyclist says...
9:50pm Mon 4 Feb 13

amazed wrote:
Whilst I sympathise with what Private says, surely it is the Council's responsibility to see that pavements are made safe. It is the same old story. We had a great deal of trouble a year or two ago to get a big hole in the road repaired. As I pointed out at the time, if a cyclist had hit the hole in the dark and suffered a serious injury, it would have cost the Council far more in the payment of compensation than the cost of simply coming up and filling the hole in. They eventually saw sense (and in fact repaired most of the other holes in the road as well), Stop making political points and look after the public who pay a lot of Council Tax to pay for these matters.
I doubt the cyclist would have had much of a case if they'd suffered a serious injury from falling down a pothole on a pavement.

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district01 says...
12:09pm Tue 5 Feb 13

I hope you will be feeling better soon Mrs Holmes. But could I please warn anyone when buying a disabled persons walker not to buy a three wheeled model. They are unstable by design and if you ever need to lean hard on just one of the handles for whatever reason it will fall over. Better to invest in a four wheel version which are far more stable. But all models will still need care so please be careful and look ahead at all times!

As for the state of the paths. Yes, they are in a mess and far too many are uneven and many do not even have proper drop curbs. But it has to be asked if anyone exists with the knowledge and force to give advice to those providing these facilities before the problems even arise?

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english rose 1 says...
2:43pm Tue 5 Feb 13

N4you! wrote:
the council is lazy and a waste of space, why do they resurface (waste money on) roads which dont need touching at all just before the financial year starts?
robbing b@$+arDs!!!!!!!!!!!
Which roads would these be ? - name any road which was resurfaced which 'didn't need toouching'.

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english rose 1 says...
2:48pm Tue 5 Feb 13

amazed wrote:
Whilst I sympathise with what Private says, surely it is the Council's responsibility to see that pavements are made safe. It is the same old story. We had a great deal of trouble a year or two ago to get a big hole in the road repaired. As I pointed out at the time, if a cyclist had hit the hole in the dark and suffered a serious injury, it would have cost the Council far more in the payment of compensation than the cost of simply coming up and filling the hole in. They eventually saw sense (and in fact repaired most of the other holes in the road as well), Stop making political points and look after the public who pay a lot of Council Tax to pay for these matters.
As I understand the situation the lady fell on Duckworth St (not Market St) outside Lloyds / TSB.
*
Along this stretch of road half of the pavement (the bit that isn't block paved) isn't owned by the Council but owned by the individual shop owners.
*
So the lady may well have fallen on the bit that's in private ownership.
*
Please don't be so quick to blame the Council !

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amazed says...
5:38pm Tue 5 Feb 13

Happy Cyclist

I know that a cyclist would not have a case for having an accidentt riding on the pavement. The point that I was making is that the Council responded pretty quick when I mentioned that if a cyclist fell into the hole in the road they may be entitled to compension. So is it not the case that the Corporation is responsible for the pavements to be made safe, for instance around Greenhalgh's, where it is very uneven and they should see that they are repaired. These places are waiting for an accident to happen with serious (and costly) consequences.

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