OAP narrowly escapes death after path fall

Douglas Milburn is now calling for the “dangerous” pavement, which runs alongside Chesterfield Road in Staveley, to be widened.

The 77-year-old, of Dale Close, Staveley, was travelling up the footway last Thursday when one of the wheels on his scooter ran up an embankment.

The vehicle then veered off the small path – throwing Douglas on to the road. He said: “I saw a car coming straight at me but thankfully it wasn’t speeding and had time to stop.

“If I’d landed in the road moments later or if the car had been going any faster, I would have been killed.

“I put on a brave face at the time but deep down I was very scared.”

Douglas, who suffered bruising to his shoulder, ribs and legs, said the drama brought traffic to a halt and many drivers came to his aid.

“I’d like to thank everyone who helped me,” he added.

Douglas urged Derbyshire County Council (DCC) to improve safety on the footpath.

He said: “It’s so narrow and needs widening. There’s a lot of overgrown shrubbery which could be cut back.

“The earth embankment is falling and making it even narrower.

“If you’re in a wheelchair or pushing a buggy along there and you see someone coming in the other direction, they have to walk on to the road to get past you.

“It’s simply not safe and something needs to be done urgently to make it safer.”

A spokesman for DCC said: “We’re sorry to hear about what happened to Douglas.

“We don’t own the pavement so we can’t widen it.

“Next week we aim to cut back the vegetation.”

It is not clear who owns the footway in question on Chesterfield Road.