Stone Cross pensioner suffers facial injuries after tripping on broken kerb in Wivelsfield Green

Eileen Robinson, 68, and her husband Michael, 73, said the accident happened on Friday, May 19, when they were in the village to pick up their grandchildren.

The couple said they have family in Mid Sussex and said they used to live in Haywards Heath and Burgess Hill.

Eileen explained that she had some rubbish she wanted to put in a bin, so she and Michael stopped near Londis in North Common Road.

She said: “I just stumbled and my knee went down and my face smacked on the concrete.”

Eileen said she had tripped on a kerb that had broken away. She said: “You couldn’t tell me what was happening. One minute I’m happy and the next minute I’m on the floor with my face on the ground and blood everywhere.”

Eileen thanked the bystanders who helped her get back to the car and said she and her husband called an ambulance shortly afterwards. The paramedics then advised her to go to hospital.

“When I got to hospital I can’t praise them enough, they were so excellent,” said Eileen, but she called the overall experience of her injury ‘a nightmare’. She said her injuries included a bad gash on the upper part of her nose, severe bruising around her forehead and side of the head and a broken front tooth, which has now been repaired.

Eileen and Michael said they reported the broken kerb to East Sussex County Council who told them they would fix it as a priority. Michael said: “When I explained it to East Sussex County Council by email they immediately stopped me sending emails and said ‘this is an emergency’ because of the damage as I explained it.” He said they then urged him to phone in.

Eileen said: “We don’t want it happening to any elderly people. I’m a young pensioner but I know a lot of people who are very old who live there.”

Michael and Eileen said they want councils to repair and maintain roads and pavements sooner to help remove hazards and prevent accidents.

An East Sussex Highways spokesperson said: “We’re sorry to hear about this incident and wish Mrs Robinson a speedy recovery. After receiving the report about the damaged footway, our teams attended and carried out a temporary safety repair. We will be returning to permanently fix the pavement as soon as possible.

“We work very hard to ensure the pavements which we are responsible for in Wivelsfield Green, and across the county, are maintained to a safe standard and carry out regular inspections of all our pavements for any safety issues. With 1,542 miles of footways and cycleways to maintain across East Sussex, it is important that we use our limited resources carefully and prioritise work on pavements posing the greatest safety risk, and we publish details of how we do this on the East Sussex Highways website.

“We would always encourage residents to report any concerns directly to us to enable us to carry out the appropriate checks and take any necessary action as quickly as possible. Concerns can be reported through our website, www.eastsussexhighways.com, or by phone.”