LETTER: The hazards at our feet

While I was walking across the front of the new entrance to the Arndale Centre, near the Metro Bank, I tripped very suddenly and found myself face down on the pavement.

It appears that two paving slabs have been removed from the new pavement area here, and replaced by Tarmac, and not very well at that - an accident waiting to happen and it found me!

I have a nasty bruised knee, a scraped elbow, and, most annoyingly, a badly sprained left ankle. I attended my GP at the Horder Centre as the ankle was still swollen and sore, and bruising was appearing at the front of my ankle, which I felt was a little odd.

An X-ray was taken, which showed no broken bones, but I obviously have soft tissue damage that will take between four to six weeks to heal. I have known of several other people, older and younger than myself (a fit 66-year-old), who have fallen in Eastbourne roads and suffered various injuries, from dislocated fingers to bruised faces and broken glasses.

We are all heartily fed-up with having to look at our feet to avoid uneven surfaces, loose bricks and tree roots along both sides of Terminus Road and its vicinity. It is a veritable switchback of hills and dales, rocking sections and trip hazards.

As such, it does not reflect the ‘duty of care’ that the council should be showing for its residents, and has made Eastbourne a virtual ‘no-go area’ for the elderly and incapacitated who try to shop there.

I can only hope that once the new part of the Arndale Centre is finished something positive and remedial will be done about Eastbourne pavements by then, if not sooner.

GAIL BALL

Columbus Drive