Picture: AFP PHOTO
Picture: AFP PHOTO

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BRITISH local council has refused to pay compensation to a widow who was left bruised and bleeding after tripping over a "pothole" — because it was not deep enough.

The Telegraph newspaper reported that Barbara Fielding, 53, suffered a bloodied nose, cut lip and bump on the head after tripping over the dip in the road while walking her dog in December. But her local council has refused to compensate her for the injuries she suffered after claiming the pothole was not deep enough to be considered a hazard.

Fielding, from Blackpool, Lancashire, said: "I stumbled in the hole and fell flat on my face. I smashed my nose and cut my lip. As I got up, I suddenly went dizzy and fell over and split my head open.

"There was blood pouring from my skull right down to the bottom of my neck. It was horrendous. I had to go straight to bed and I couldn’t stop vomiting. The pain was terrible," she said.

After spending weeks in bed, Fielding wrote to Blackpool Council, asking for compensation for her ordeal, but the council wrote back this month to tell her it was not responsible for her injuries because it does not deem the pothole a hazard.

In the letter, the council said: "It is not expected and would be impossible to fill every pothole that develops, however, the council will repair any defect in the carriageway, which on inspection exceeds a measurement of 40mm.

"Windermere Road is inspected on foot annually by trained and experienced highway officers employed by the council, and they last visited Windermere Road on June 22 2015. Nothing was found at that time which exceeded 40mm in the place where you fell.

"We accept that following your accident the inspector revisited Windermere Road and ordered a repair of the hole where you fell and in another location.

"The council is, however, able to rely on the fact that there is a regular inspection system in place and that in June 2015 the pothole in question was not considered dangerous. Unfortunately, this means we are unable to offer you any compensation as it is not accepted that the council has been negligent or in breach of its duty to maintain the carriageway in a reasonable condition."

Fielding claims her unhappiness with the council’s response is based on principle rather than a potential payout, which raises some interesting questions from a South African point of view. How big does a donga have to be here to be considered a pothole and, therefore, worth a legal claim? Obviously, 40mm is laughably inadequate; 40cm perhaps? There are parts of the country in which that would be considered mere traction for the 4x4, but it seems a reasonable benchmark in Gauteng.

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