Council denies paving outside Milton Keynes Central station needs repairs after woman falls and breaks her arm

A woman has hit out at the state of the pavements outside the city’s train station after she tripped over a dodgy slab and badly broke her arm.

She said the slab was so loose that it moved when she trod on it, causing her to fall.

She underwent a stay in hospital, surgery to put a metal plate in her wrist and months of occupational therapy and exercises.

She also had to battle for 18 months with MK City Council and other organisations to make an insurance claim – even though liability was admitted straight away.

“There was simply no transparency about the process or what I was entitled to,” she said.

"Eventually I had to settle for a lower amount than we thought was fair as I was told ‘take it or go to court’. And I couldn't risk having to pay court fees.”

This week, the woman went back to MK Central station to check that the paving had been fixed – and she was horrified to find slabs were still unstable.

“It’s the paving in the high footfall area right outside the shops and the station entrance… It’s more like a fun house than a safe walkway and attention needs to be drawn to it to get it repaired...I don't want this to happen to other people,” she said.

“It really is unsafe.”

The Citizen contacted Milton Keynes City Council for a comment. A spokesperson said: “The paved area outside the train station at Elder Gate is checked by the highways inspectors on a monthly basis. If they find any issues that meet our criteria for repairs then a job will be raised to get the work done.”

They added: “Anyone can report an issue like this to the Council using the Report It section on the website and this will generate an enquiry for an inspector to go out and check the location.

"Minor defects can worsen between the inspections dates so we always encourage people to report things to us so we can check for any safety issues.”