Dad who broke ankle in pothole says west Hull road still not repaired 18 months on

A FATHER-OF-THREE has accused the council of failing to repair a large pothole – 18 months after he fell into it, fracturing an ankle.

Peter Webster says he is still trying to claim compensation for loss of earnings as a result of being unable to work for eight weeks after the accident.

Mr Webster took the Mail to the pothole in Plane Street, off Anlaby Road, in west Hull, yesterday, which he claims he tripped into on August 12, 2011.

He said: "It's a disgrace that it's still there.

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"I was working as an aluminium tower erector – you can't do that with a pot on your ankle, so I was off work for two months on statutory sick pay."

Mr Webster's claim follows yesterday's front-page story about Morgan Goodhand, 12, who broke her left leg after falling into a pothole in east Hull.

Moments after leaving his mother Pamela's home, Mr Webster says he fell into the pothole, a few inches from the kerb.

"I felt my left ankle go," he said. "It was really painful. I somehow managed to hobble to the bus stop and got myself home.

"My partner's friend and her husband then drove me to A&E, where doctors did an X-ray, which showed the left ankle was fractured."

Mr Webster says he instructed Middlesex law firm Compensation Lawyers Limited, to act on his behalf in a bid to gain compensation.

"I was getting £80 a week sick pay for the time I was off," he said. "We accumulated a lot of debt in that time and the injury was not my fault."

Mr Webster, 35, who lives with his partner and their children in Eastfield Road, west Hull, said: "He said: "My partner's dad was helping us pay the rent and household bills because I was not brining in enough."

Mr Webster says he reported the accident to Hull City Council, while his partner took a picture of the pothole to give to the legal firm the day after the accident.

"It looks as though nothing has been done to sort it even though someone has been injured," he said.

"The roads need to be kept in good repair. It's just dangerous."

Morgan's accident, which has left her in severe pain, happened in Severn Street, off Holderness Road, last month. She had been pushing a scooter across the road, close to her family's home, on her birthday.

Her mother, Michelle, has been told it could be months before her daughter returns to Archbishop Sentamu Academy.

Mrs Goodhand, 38, said: "I am disgusted by the state of the roads in this city. Something needs to be done about it."

Hull City Council said, in relation to Morgan, the accident was "unfortunate", but said it could not comment further until it had received a formal complaint from her mother.

In response to Mr Webster's claims, Andy Burton, the council's Streetscene manager, said: "As this is an ongoing claim, we are unable to comment."