Pensioner hurt in pothole fall

A 73-year-old grandmother broke her wrist after falling into a pothole on a road in Cannock.

Berylann Wilman will have her arm in a sling for at least six weeks and faces months of physiotherapy after the accident on Banbury Road.

Mrs Wilman, of Salcombe Close, Cannock, today described the state of the town's roads as "disgusting".

She was visiting the home of her daughter Tina Darlington, 42, when the accident happened on Friday.

She tripped into the pothole after getting out of a taxi and was rushed to Stafford Hospital, where she had to undergo a two-hour operation and have a metal plate inserted into her arm. Staffordshire County Council is now looking into her complaint but said the authority had repaired 11,500 potholes in the first six months of this year.

Mrs Wilman said: "It's upsetting to have to rely on people to do things for me. I can't even get myself dressed. I was in terrible shock when it happened. The roads should not have been allowed to get into that state. It's disgusting. Banbury Road is not the only one."

The county council said today that it had invested an extra £6 million , along with the Government, on the roads.