‘No cash to fix pavement’ after Islington pensioner’s fall

A PETITION calling for a stretch of pavement to be levelled out after a pensioner fell and fractured her eye socket has been ignored by Islington Council.

Dorothy Plant, 84, was left black and blue and spent two nights in hospital after tripping on the edge of an uneven paving stone in Elmore Street, Islington.

But residents’ appeals for the walkway – which runs alongside The Children’s House nursery school – to be fixed have been rejected by the council.

Councillor Paula Belford, a Liberal Democrat councillor for Canonbury ward, who started the petition, which was signed by 75 residents, said: “You have little kids running around there. How many more accidents are we going to have to have before the council addresses this problem? It just needs levelling – it would not cost much to do.”

Mrs Plant, of Lindsey Mews, off Elmore Street, Islington, had to sleep on her living room sofa after returning from hospital, as severe bruising to her hip left her unable to scale the stairs to her bedroom. She said: “It’s been really bad for years, and it’s a wonder no children from the nursery school have hurt themselves. The council seems to be waiting for a really serious accident before it will do anything.”

Islington Council said it has no cash to fix the pavement.

Councillor Paul Smith, Islington Council’s executive member for environment, said: “We were very sorry to hear of Mrs Plant’s fall and sent our best wishes for a speedy recovery last year.

“The deep cuts we are being handed by the government mean we can’t replace all the paving we’d like to. But I have instructed a team to attend and make safe any hazards they find as a matter of priority.”