A woman from Buckinghamshire sustained a bruised cheek, cuts to her face and a black eye after tripping on a loose manhole cover on her local High Street.

Susan Spearman, who lives in Marlow, was walking along the town’s High Street on Saturday, November 11, when the toe of her shoe caught on the edge of a loose manhole cover and she fell face-first onto the pavement.

She suffered a black eye, a bruised cheek, a bruised wrist and knees and cuts to her forehead but praised the intervention of several passers-by who “kindly” stopped to help her back on her feet.

Susan, who is in her late 60s, said she reported the manhole cover to Buckinghamshire Council and was told the matter had been passed onto their Emergency Team.

More than a week later, she believes the cover, which is outside Number 57 and 59 on the High Street, has now been tightened but raised fresh concern about the wider state of the town’s paving slabs, many of which she thinks could be uneven and/or broken.

“I know that other people have fallen (along the High Street) too. The whole pavement is a disgrace – I want (Buckinghamshire Council) to look at it and do a risk assessment and survey.

“There are so many trip hazards and it’s especially a risk for elderly people, even more so during dark winter events like the Christmas Lights switch-on and the carols.”

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Susan said she still has marks on her face from the incident and was "lucky" that no bones had broken in the fall, which could have “majorly” exacerbated her osteoporosis.

Another Marlow resident, Paula Sims, submitted a similar report to the council-monitored platform FixMyStreet in January alongside images of a paving slab outside Number 16 which she said had “come loose”, with “one side of it sticking up very high” and “flipping” when stepped on.

Steven Broadbent, Cabinet Member for Transport at Buckinghamshire Council said: “We are sorry to hear of this accident and hope the resident has recovered from their injury. Buckinghamshire Highways takes all matters of safety extremely seriously. When a job is marked as urgent it receives priority over other works to make the area safe again as soon as possible.

“Marlow High Street is inspected monthly as part of our ongoing maintenance programme. It is worth noting that the High Street is paved with historic flagstones which by their nature are quite uneven in places, so we would recommend people take extra care.

“Where any defect is reported to us, we will investigate and prioritise any repairs as needed. To report any defects on roads or pavements in Buckinghamshire, please go to our website – www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/fix-my-street.”