A COUPLE from Chippenham are outraged following an accident which was a direct result of the poorly maintained pavements around the town.

Gillian Mason, 52, a mother of four, of Seymour Road near Monkton Park, was walking on the pavement in The Tinings on Sunday, just 100 yards from her house, when she fell over a raised drain cover and had to be rushed to hospital, suffering from a broken collarbone, a dislocated shoulder and scratches and bruises to her arms and head.

Mrs Mason, a taxi driver around Chippenham for 12 years, said: “I always walk my dogs down there in the morning and there is a drain that is sticking up in the pavement. I always make sure to walk around it but I didn’t think of it, my foot got caught and my body kept going. I fell straight on my front and I couldn’t move. Thanks to the people who lived near because they all tried to help and called an ambulance for me. You shouldn’t have to think about where you are walking on the pavements. I have lived in Chippenham for a long time and it seems to be going downhill.”

Mrs Mason’s husband has said that this accident is a wake-up call for people in the area and older people living nearby could come off considerably worse than his wife after a similar accident.

Colin Mason said: “It was such a shock, you see people when they are drunk walking around the town and fall over and don’t really think of it, but when it is one of your own it hits home hard. She will have to be off work for ten weeks now, I was so upset when I heard about her accident.”

This isn’t the first time that residents of the town have encountered issues with the broken pavements, with Chippenham town councillors appealing to the people to find out which areas are in dire need of repair.

Mary Fallon, Chippenham town councillor, said: “This is something I have pursued all along and I know that councillors have been worried about the issue. I lived near Seymour Road and am fully aware of the amount of elderly people that live there. The problem is that buses are being cut and some people’s only access into the town is by foot.

“I have come across a woman before who fell in the town because of the pavements and bit through her lip, had a bruised nose and broke her glasses and she was 82. The effect a fall like that can have on people is rather severe. It can make people fear going out and walking into town.”

In January of 2014 Coun Fallon urged people to come forward with the street names which were causing problems. In the list Monkton Hill, Ivy Lane, Park Lane, Greenway Street and the High Street came top.

A Wiltshire Council spokesperson said: “We are sorry to hear of this accident. We have checked this pavement and there are no defects that meet our intervention levels. However, we did identify a number of raised metal covers and have reported these to the relevant utility company for them to assess.”